Cristo Rei Of Dili
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The ''Cristo Rei of Dili'' (
Christ the King Christ the King is a title of Jesus in Christianity referring to the idea of the Kingdom of God where Christ is described as being seated at the right hand of God. Many Christian denominations consider the kingly office of Christ to be one o ...
of
Dili Dili (Portuguese language, Portuguese and Tetum language, Tetum: ''Díli'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Timor-Leste. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in by mountai ...
) statue (, ) is a
colossal statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...
of
Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
situated atop a globe at Cape Fatucama in Dili,
Timor-Leste Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...
. It is one of East Timor's main tourist attractions. The statue was designed, and its construction supervised, by Mochamad Syailillah, who is better known as "Bolil". It was officially unveiled by
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Suharto Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician, and dictator, who was the second and longest serving president of Indonesia, serving from 1967 to 1998. His 32 years rule, cha ...
of Indonesia in 1996 as a gift from the Indonesian Government to the people of Timor Timur, the then Indonesian province.


Location

The statue, and the
globe A globe is a spherical Earth, spherical Model#Physical model, model of Earth, of some other astronomical object, celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but, unlike maps, they do not distort the surface ...
on which it rests, are mounted on the peak of Cape Fatucama at the end of the Fatucama
peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...
. The statue is accessible from the car park at Cristo Rei Beach, on the south side of the cape, inside the Bay of Dili, via a 570-step concrete staircase shaded by trees. From the base of the statue, there are panoramic views back over the bay towards Dili in the south west, out over the transition between Ombai and Wetar Straits to Atauro Island in the north, and down to Jesus Backside Beach facing Wetar Strait in the east.


History

The idea of constructing the ''Cristo Rei'' statue was proposed by José Abílio Osório Soares, then the Governor of East Timor, to President Suharto. The statue was intended as a gift to East Timor for the 20th anniversary of its integration into Indonesia; the anniversary was due to take place on 17 July 1996. Suharto put national airline
Garuda Indonesia Garuda Indonesia is the flag carrier of Indonesia, headquartered at Soekarno–Hatta International Airport near Jakarta. A successor of KLM Interinsulair Bedrijf, it is a member of SkyTeam airline alliance and the second-largest airline of Ind ...
in charge of leading the project. Garuda was given the responsibility to find capital for funding the project, and raised 1.1 billion
rupiah The rupiah (Currency symbol, symbol: Rp; ISO 4217, currency code: IDR) is the official currency of Indonesia, issued and controlled by Bank Indonesia. Its name is derived from the Sanskrit word for silver, (). Sometimes, Indonesians also inform ...
(). 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 (). Meanwhile, Garuda engaged Mochamad Syailillah, better known as "Bolil", to design and build the statue. Bolil, whose workspace was in
Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...
, had never previously constructed a large statue. He travelled to East Timor to inspect Cape Fatucama, which the Governor had nominated as the proposed site. The terrain at the Cape was of suitable strength for the erection of a large and tall statue. Taking that terrain and calculations of the very strong local winds into account, Bolil designed the statue and made a prototype of it. The design portrayed the subject wrapped in a robe. The face of the statue proved to be difficult to render; after much effort, including consultation with the Communion of Churches in Indonesia headquarters in Jakarta, the artist gravitated towards Greek and Roman facial features, and aimed at simplicity. Almost a year of work was required to create the statue's body, which was fabricated by 30 workers in Sukaraja, Bandung, to the completed design. The body was made of 27 separate copper sections, which were then loaded onto three container trailers and shipped to Dili aboard a chartered ship. Installation of the statue by the team from Bandung, including the globe and a cross, took about three months. A bamboo frame was installed at the site to facilitate the lifting of the copper sections, each of which weighed , up to the peak. Prior to the unveiling of the statue, East Timorese resistance leader
Xanana Gusmão José Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão (; born 20 June 1946) is an East Timorese politician. He has served as the 6th prime minister of East Timor since 2023, previously serving in that position from 2007 to 2015. A former rebel, he also served as E ...
, who was then being held in prison in Jakarta, was scathingly critical of it: The statue was unveiled on 15 October 1996. Bishop Belo, together with President Suharto and Governor Soares, used a helicopter to witness its revelation directly from the air. A few days earlier, the
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had embarrassed the Indonesian government by awarding the
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
for 1996 to Bishop Belo and
José Ramos-Horta José Manuel Ramos-Horta GCL GColIH (; born 26 December 1949) is an East Timorese politician. He has been the president of East Timor since 2022, having previously also held the position from 20 May 2007 to 20 May 2012. Previously he was Mini ...
"... to honour their sustained and self-sacrificing contributions for a small but oppressed people." In his own public comments on the statue, Bishop Belo said: Before East Timor ceased to be a province of Indonesia, the statue was given an award by the Indonesian World Records Museum for being the tallest statue in the country. Since East Timor regained independence in 2002, the statue has been not destroyed, but, instead, preserved and re-presented as a tourist attraction. Timorese argue that the statue now 'belongs' to East Timor, regardless of its originators and their purposes. It is the source of considerable native pride, and, as "... an iconic symbol of the country and its Capital City of Dili ...", is now a haunt of locals as well as being one of East Timor's main tourist attractions. Even Gusmão has changed his position; while he was serving as
Prime Minister of East Timor The prime minister of Timor-Leste, officially the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste (; ) is the head of government of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. The president of Timor-Leste is the head of state. The presi ...
between 2007 and 2015, his government supported the renovation of the statue.


Symbolism

The monument (statue, globe and pedestal) is high, to reflect the now former integration of East Timor as the 27th province of Indonesia. The statue and globe are high, two times 17, an allusion to 17 July 1976, the day East Timor was integrated into Indonesia, and 17 August 1945, the day Indonesia proclaimed independence from the Netherlands. The statue is now also seen as a physical symbol of the figure of Christ, of suffering, and of the Catholic faith that is now part of being East Timorese. It is gesturing with embracing arms, and is oriented towards the west, which, as some have observed, is the direction of
Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
. However, the artist has said that the Governor had asked that the statue face towards Dili. The arms and hands of the statue are held in place with steel
wire rope Steel wire rope (right hand lang lay) Wire rope is composed of as few as two solid, metal wires twisted into a helix that forms a composite ''rope'', in a pattern known as ''laid rope''. Larger diameter wire rope consists of multiple strands of ...
, to withstand the wind pressure; there is also a wind vent in the armpit of the statue's robe, linked by a pipe to another vent at the back of the robe. Visitors climbing the staircase from Cristo Rei Beach to the statue pass 14 stations, which are places of prayer for Catholics. The 14 stations symbolise the
Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...
passed by Jesus Christ on his walk to
Calvary Calvary ( or ) or Golgotha () was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, Jesus was crucified. Since at least the early medieval period, it has been a destination for pilgrimage. ...
or Golgotha on the day of his crucifixion.


Gallery

File:Dili - Christusstatue 'Cristo Rei'.jpg,
Chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...
under the statue File:US Navy Landing Craft Utility 1665 delivers personnel and hardware as the amphibious transport dock ship USS Cleveland (LPD-7).jpg, View of the statue from the Bay of Dili File:Cristo Rei (6395938371).jpg, View from behind File:Jesus Backside Beach, Dili, East Timor (312833934).jpg, Dolok Oan Beach as seen from the statue File:Cristo Rei (31988940360).jpg, Cristo Rei at sunrise


See also

* List of statues of Jesus *
List of tallest statues This list of tallest statues includes completed statues that are at least tall. The height values in this list are measured to the highest part of the human (or animal) figure, but exclude the height of any pedestal (plinth), or other base plat ...


References


External links

{{Dili , state=collapsed Monuments and memorials in Timor-Leste Religious buildings and structures in Timor-Leste Colossal statues of Jesus Dili Christ the King Buildings and structures completed in 1996 1996 establishments in Indonesia Maps in art Monuments and memorials completed in the 1990s 1990s in East Timor