The Christ of the Abyss
The Christ of the Abyss is a bronze statue placed in 1954 on the seabed of the bay of San Fruttuosobetween Camogli and Portofino within the Portofino Protected Marine Area, at a depth of 17 metres. The dive to observe the statue is one of the most famous excursions on the Ligurian coast, and over the years the Christ has become a symbol of the passion for diving and the sea.
The dive is relatively simple and shallow, and does not require any special precautions other than the presence of accompanying persons registered with the Liguria Region, as you are inside the Portofino Natural Marine Protected Area.
History: The statue was the brainchild of Duilio Marcante who, following the death of Dario Gonzatti during a dive in 1947, pushed for a statue of Christ to be placed on the seabed. The statue, about 2.50 metres high and created by sculptor Guido Galletti in the Battaglia artistic foundry, was placed thanks to the Italian Navy at a depth of about 17 metres. It was brought to the seabed thanks to many 'Mondo Sommerso' divers, led by the then director Marco Paini, who placed the statue with millimetric precision on the base. The arms of Christ, ideally pointing upwards to God in heaven, are open as a sign of peace.
The bay of San Fruttuoso overlooking the Abbey of San Fruttuoso. Just to the right, in the sea, is the statue of Christ. To obtain the bronze of the statue, medals, naval elements (even propellers of American submarines donated by the U.S. Navy) and bells were cast. Following Marcante's death, a plaque was placed on the base of the statue in his memory.
In 2003, the statue was restored in order to preserve it from corrosion and encrustation and, above all, to reattach the hand detached from an anchor, found by diver Enea Marrone, and then repositioned underwater on 17 July 2004 on a new base, at a shallower depth than before.
