Cristo Rei

Cristo Rei, Avenida Cristo Rei 61. (Open Map)
(75)

Description

Catholic monument of Jesus Christ

This stiff echo of Rio's statue of Christ the Redeemer gazes across at the city, an observation deck at its feet. Cristo Rei was inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and inaugurated on 17 May 1959.

The construction of Cristo-Rei was approved on a Portuguese Episcopate conference, held in Fátima on 20 April 1940, as a plea to God to release Portugal from entering World War II. Worth the trip, not least fort he weird sensation of looking down on the towering Ponte 25 de Abril.