Cristo Rei of Dili

Cristo Rei of Dili (Christ the King of Dili) is a 27.0-metre-high (88.6 ft) statue of Jesus located atop a globe in Dili, East Timor. The statue was designed by Mochamad Syailillah, who is better known as Bolil. The statue was officially unveiled by Suharto in 1996 as gift from the Indonesian government to the people of Timor Timur, the then Indonesian province.[1] The statue is one of the main tourist attractions in East Timor.[2]

Cristo Rei of Dili
Cristo Rei of Dili atop a summit overlooking the capitol of East Timor
LocationEast Timor
Nearest cityDili, East Timor
Coordinates8.520527°S 125.608322°E / -8.520527; 125.608322
Established1996

The statue, and the globe on which it rests, are situated at the end of the Fatucama peninsula, facing out to the ocean and can be reached by climbing some 597 steps.[3]

History
Statue location

The idea of raising the Cristo Rei statue was proposed by the East Timor governor José Abílio Osório Soares to President Suharto. It was intended as a present for the 20th anniversary of East Timor's integration into Indonesia.

Suharto appointed the director of national airline Garuda Indonesia to lead the project. Garuda was given the responsibility to find capital for funding the project, and raised 1.1 billion rupiah (US$123,000). However, that was not sufficient to erect the statue, and contributions from East Timorese civil servants and businessmen were needed to complete the project, which eventually cost more than 5 billion rupiah (US$559,000).

It took almost a year of working to create the body of the statue, which was fabricated by 30 workers in Sukaraja, Bandung. It was made of 27 separate copper sections, which were then loaded onto three trailers and shipped to Dili. Reconstruction of the statue, including the globe and a 10-meter-high cross, took three months.

It was unveiled on 15 October 1996. Roman Catholic bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, together with President Suharto and East Timor Governor José Abílio Osório Soares, directly witnessed the revelation of this statue from the air using a helicopter.

Symbolism

The monument (statue, globe and pedestal) is 27 meters high, a reference to the integration of East Timor as the 27th province of Indonesia.[4] The statue and globe are 17 meters high, an allusion to Indonesian Independence Day (17 August 1945).[5]

The statue is oriented towards the west, which some believed as the direction of Jakarta.

  • Chapel under the statue
  • View of the statue from the sea
  • View from the behind
  • Jesus Backside Beach, east of Dili
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See also
  • List of statues by height

References
  1. "Mengenang Yesus di Bumi Lorosae" [Remembering Jesus on Timorese Earth] (in Indonesian). Merdeka.com. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  2. "Patung Kristus Raja, Wisata Rohani Timor Leste" [Statue of Christ the King, Spiritual Tourism of East Timor] (in Indonesian). Liputan6. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  3. Cox, Christopher, Tourism in Timor? Travel & Leisure, March 2004
  4. East Timor. Lonely Planet. 2011. ISBN 1-74059-644-7.
  5. "Di Balik Christo Rei Timor Leste | AcehFeature.org : Peutroek Nyang Keubit Ta Jagaa Damee". Aceh Feature. 1 December 2010. Archived from the original on 1 December 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2019.

Media related to Cristo Rei of Dili at Wikimedia Commons

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