The 980 kg bronze Christ atop Balmenhorn peak

Alfredo Bai was a partisan commander in the Orco Valley. He made a vow that if he returned home alive, he would erect a statue dedicated to Christ to remember the fallen of all wars. After finding the necessary funds, he realized the work of creating the sculpture, which he cast in eleven separate pieces.

Although there was an original idea to place the work on a different peak, it was rejected due to the difficulty of transport and the relative high cost. Instead, the Balmenhorn at 4,167 metres appeared as a natural altar. The bronze statue, which stands 3.6 metres tall and weighs 980 kg, was transported by the alpins of the Military Alpine School of Aosta under the guidance of Captain Costanzo Picco.

The statue was inaugurated on September 4, 1955, with a ceremony attended by over 400 people. Today, the Cristo delle Vette serves as a landmark and a point of orientation for thousands of mountaineers. Three years after the original inauguration, a small bronze reproduction was placed on the summit cross of another peak.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons