Holy Land — Attraction in Autonomous City of Buenos Aires

Tierra Santa is a religious theme park in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was opened in 2001 over a land measuring about 18 acres, as a replica of Jerusalem of Christ period. It is claimed to be the world's first religious theme park. It is a large reproduction where visitors can walk the streets of Biblical Jerusalem, living step by step scenes from the life of Jesus as described in the Bible. It is a miniature holy city, complete with fake palm trees, centurions, Hebrew Templs, Roman Palace and even a Wailing Wall. Cultures represented include Christians, Jews, and Romans. It takes visitors through 37 of the most important events in the bible: from the creation of Adam and Eve and the birth of Jesus to his crucifixion and resurrection. Even the streets are designed to mimic the pebbled stones of Jerusalem, flanked by plastic castles, temples, sheep, donkeys and camels. But the main attraction is the Holy Mount, where thousands gather every hour to watch a giant Jesus Christ statue rising into the sky to the sound of Handel's Messiah. A 13 metres (40 ft) Jesus rises from behind a rock every hour, a solemn religious experience for many visitors, but also provoking derision on the Internet as kitschy. The park also includes statues of several 20th century historical figures such as Pope John Paul II, Gandhi and Mother Teresa, according to park staff were included because they were historic figures who "fought for peace" and that the park also wanted to pay tribute to them. Some emotional visitors can be seen crying as they walk through a display of massive crucifixes before coming to a waxwork of Jesus on the cross, surrounded by his kneeling worshipers. It even had the blessing of the Argentinian Pope Francis, who came to visit in 2008 when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires (He became Pope in 2013 and is current Pope). It now had nearly ten million people through its doors. Its ticket is 200 Peso (10 US$) and it is open only from the afternoon of Friday, till...

It's both a wonderfully tacky and heartwarming walk through of various scenes in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, as well as the Genesis according to the Bible. Also pays homage to Islam and Judaism. The pièce de résistance giant 8m rising mechanical Christ complete with moving limbs, blinking eyes, and gazing heavenly, is an absolutely crazy crazy take on Jesus. For believers it's a powerful moment. Non-believers can appreciate the perfect audacity of it. Imagine The Family Guy's Jesus absent a matching giant mechanical Peter.

Few visitors which is sad as likely means Tierra Santa's days are numbered. Great escape from the city with places to sit, eat, and shop. The staff work hard to inform you not to miss the various shows and deserve recognition. They are fully dressed in period garb to match the feel of Old Jerusalem that is the theme park. The alleys and buildings themselves are a joy to explore and get lost in.

Tip. Open weekends only. Bring mosquito repellent for dusk as those bloodsuckers...

A very interesting and artistic experience. For English speakers, there is an overall guidebook and map in English. The audio of the shows is in Spanish, but we got a lot out of it as English speakers because of the visual presentatiobn. There are a lot of signs at exhibits that you can translate and enjoy with your phone, so don't let language stop you. We visited three hours and saw most of the highlights in that time but five hours would be better. This is a worthwhile experience for non-Christians who want to understand the Jesus story, and even has some respectful exhibits on Islam and Judaism. We found it immersive and helped imagine being in ancient Jerusalem. Enjoy with the proper expectation that this is a theme experience with a mix of live performance and animatronics, and a positive/uplifting message, and not rollercoasters or a preachy message. The park also has a fair priced variety of food. We plan to go back...