{"id":59314,"date":"2026-10-14T10:14:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T10:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realdreams.pt\/?post_type=to-visit&p=59314"},"modified":"2026-10-14T10:14:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T10:14:12","slug":"cristo-rei","status":"publish","type":"to-visit","link":"https:\/\/realdreams.pt\/pl\/attractions-to-visit\/regions-of-portugal\/lisbon-surroundings\/cristo-rei\/","title":{"rendered":"Cristo Rei"},"content":{"rendered":"

With arms stretched wide above the Tagus, the Cristo Rei has blessed Lisbon from the southern bank since 1959. The statue itself is smaller than Rio’s famous Christ the Redeemer, but the view it keeps \u2014 over the river, the 25 April bridge and the whole of the city \u2014 is arguably the finest in Portugal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A monument born of a promise<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The bishops of Portugal vowed in 1940, during the Second World War, to raise a monument to the Sacred Heart if the country were spared the conflict; the first stone was laid in 1949 and the shrine was inaugurated on 17 May 1959, before some three hundred thousand people. The tower, by the architect Ant\u00f3nio Lino, stands 82 metres high and carries a 28-metre figure of Christ by the sculptor Francisco Franco. A lift rises to the terrace at 84 metres, below the statue’s feet, where the view takes in the Castle of S\u00e3o Jorge<\/a> on its hill, the estuary and, on clear days, the hills of the Arr\u00e1bida<\/a> to the south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to see<\/h2>\n\n\n\n