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Tierra Santa Buenos Aires
World News

Have a day out at 'Christian Disneyworld' blessed by the Pope

This is not one man's Biblical nightmare, it's Tierra Santa - a religious theme park built in the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires.

'It's the greatest show you'll ever see, but we take it very seriously,' an actor playing Pontius Pilate in between scenes condemning Jesus to his death told the Daily Mail.

"We don't want to be seen as blaspheming. People get very emotional when they come here, we want to make it an experience they'll never forget."

The 17-acre park is a miniature holy city, complete with fake palm trees, centurions, and even a Wailing Wall.

It takes visitors through 37 of the most important events in the Bible, from creation and the birth of Jesus to his crucifixion and resurrection.

Tierra Santa
Centurions walking at Tierra Santa

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 worshippers.

Even the streets are designed to mimic the pebbled stones of Jerusalem, flanked by plastic castles, temples, 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.

With a Mosque and Synagogue on site, the park's organisers are keen to show this is not an exclusively Christian attraction.

Tierra Santa has also had the blessing of the Argentinian Pope Francis, who came to visit in 2008 when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires.

It's now had nearly ten million people through its doors.

Maria Fierro, Director of Tierra Santa, told the Daily Mail: 'It's a park that is open to all beliefs, multi-faith and it is creating really, in a Latin American city, the Jerusalem of that time over two-thousand years before.'

Jesus comes alive with special performances twice a day during Easter time re-enacting the most important events during the week from Palm Sunday - where he entered Jerusalem on a donkey - to Easter Sunday where he rose from the dead.

On Good Friday the show features Jesus getting flogged on a pillar by a Roman guard, bleeding heavily, before a crown of thorns is placed on his head and he gets strung up on a giant cross in front of a stunned audience.

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