Can a massive Madonna help slow secularization in Poland?

With its grain fields, meadows and lake, the countryside around the tiny village of Konotopie in central Poland is idyllic. Towering above all this is a monumental statue of the Virgin Mary.

Home to just 120 residents and situated about 160 kilometers (99 miles) northwest of the capital, Warsaw, the previously little-known village of Konotopie has been in the headlines for weeks now as a result of the massive statue.

The snow-white structure, which is visible for miles around, is over 55 meters (180 feet) tall. The statue itself is 40.6 meters high and stands on a 15-meter-high pedestal shaped like a crown that is intended to serve as a viewing platform.

The figure dwarfs Rio de Janeiro's famous statue of Christ the Redeemer, which reaches a total height of 38 meters including its base.

The statue will be officially inaugurated on Saturday, August 15, the feast of the Assumption of Mary, a major holy day in the Catholic calendar.

Although final construction work is still underway and the site remains fenced off and guarded, thousands of people — both pilgrims and sightseers — have been flocking to see it for months.

"It's a nightmare," one critic of the statue told the weekly magazine Newsweek, "a complete waste. Instead of investing that money in useful projects, they financed a giant pile of concrete."

"This Mary is absolutely beautiful. My utmost respect. A fantastic achievement," said one devout lady visiting the site, according to the right-wing conservative weekly Sieci .