Cape Fatucama ( pt, Cabo Fatucama, tet, Capa Fatu Cama) is a

cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. T ...

or large

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Joh ...

a short distance north east of

Dili Dili ( Portuguese/ Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed ...

, on the north coast of

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-we ...

. It is best known as the site of the ''

Cristo Rei of Dili The ''Cristo Rei of Dili'' (Christ the King of Dili) statue ( pt, Estátua do Cristo Rei de Díli, tet, Estátua Cristo Rei Dili) is a colossal statue of Jesus Christ situated atop a globe at Cape Fatucama in Dili, East Timor. It is one o ...

'', a

colossal statue Colossal may refer to: * ''Colossal'' (film), a 2016 science fiction film starring Anne Hathaway * (Colossal) Pictures, entertainment company which closed in 2000 * Colossal (band), American punk band formed in 2001 * "Colossal", a song by Scale ...

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

Etymology

According to Cliff Morris's ''Tetun-English Dictionary'' (1984), ''Fatu'' means stone or rock, and ''Kama'' means bed.

Geography

The cape is located at the north eastern end of the Bay of Dili, about from the centre of Dili. It marks the southern end of the transition between

Ombai Strait Ombai Strait ( id, Selat Ombai, pt, Estreito de Ombai, tet, Estreitu Ombai) is an international strait in Southeast Asia. It separates the Alor Archipelago from the islands of Wetar, Atauro, and Timor in the Lesser Sunda Islands. The strait ...

, of which the bay is part, and

Wetar Strait Wetar Strait ( id, Selat Wetar, pt, Estreito de Wetar, tet, Estreitu Wetar) is an international strait in Southeast Asia. It separates the island of Wetar from the eastern part of the island of Timor. The strait is also the eastern portion ...

, between the north eastern shore of Timor and the Indonesian island of

Wetar Wetar is a tropical island which belongs to the Indonesian province of Maluku and is the largest island of the Maluku Barat Daya Islands (literally ''Southwest Islands'') of the Maluku Islands. It lies east of the Lesser Sunda Islands, which i ...

. It also lies at the northern end of the border between the '' sucos'' of (on the border's western side) and Hera (on its eastern side). To the south of the cape, inside the Bay of Dili, is

Cristo Rei Beach Cristo Rei Beach ( pt, Praia de Cristo Rei, tet, Tasi-ibun Cristo Rei) is a public beach facing the Bay of Dili in the ''suco'' of , East Timor. Etymology The beach takes its name from the colossal '' Cristo Rei of Dili'' statue immediately t ...

, and to the cape's east, facing Wetar Strait, is

Jesus Backside Beach Jesus Backside Beach or Dolok Oan Beach ( pt, Praia dos Portugueses, tet, Dolok Oan) is a public beach located in the ''suco'' of Hera, a short distance north east of Dili, East Timor. The beach forms part of the south shore of Wetar Strait, i ...

, which is sometimes referred to in English as ''Dolok Oan'', its Tetum name. Since 1996, the ''Cristo Rei of Dili'' statue has been mounted atop a globe at the peak of the cape. The statue is accessible from the car park at Cristo Rei Beach via a 570-step concrete staircase. Pedestrian access to Jesus Backside Beach is provided by a combination of that main staircase and a second concrete staircase descending from about one third of the way up the main staircase. The cape, and the two beaches flanking it, all form part of the

Areia Branca no Dolok Oan Areia Branca no Dolok Oan is a Important Bird Area (IBA) in East Timor, a country occupying the eastern end of the island of Timor at the eastern end of the Lesser Sunda Islands group of Wallacea. Description The IBA lies just east of the capita ...

, a

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA). The cape's slopes, like the other hills in the IBA, including the hills on the land sides of the two beaches, are vegetated with

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

dominated by ''

Eucalyptus alba ''Eucalyptus alba'', commonly known as white gum, khaki gum or poplar gum, is a species of tree that is native to Australia, Timor, and New Guinea. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowe ...

''.

References

{{authority control Dili Municipality Fatucama