{"id":71015,"date":"2025-08-28T12:37:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T11:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/?p=71015"},"modified":"2025-08-28T12:37:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T11:37:39","slug":"the-christ-the-king-sculpture-of-garajau-is-sick-and-cloistered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/the-christ-the-king-sculpture-of-garajau-is-sick-and-cloistered\/","title":{"rendered":"The Christ the King sculpture of Garajau is \u201csick\u201d and cloistered","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/the-christ-the-king-sculpture-of-garajau-is-sick-and-cloistered\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei3-500x323.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71016 lazyload\" style=\"width:675px;height:auto\" title=\"\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"323\" src=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei3-500x323.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71016\" style=\"width:675px;height:auto\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei3-500x323.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei3-360x233.jpeg 360w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei3-768x497.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei3.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today we were in Garajau to check on site the condition of the Christ the King monument, the oldest of its kind in the world. The Madeirans are proud to say: \u201cWe are the first and the best in this and that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei4-500x335.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71017 lazyload\" style=\"width:675px;height:auto\" title=\"\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"335\" src=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei4-500x335.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71017\" style=\"width:675px;height:auto\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei4-500x335.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei4-360x241.jpeg 360w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei4-768x514.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei4.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei6-500x328.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71018 lazyload\" style=\"width:675px;height:auto\" title=\"\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"328\" src=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei6-500x328.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71018\" style=\"width:675px;height:auto\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei6-500x328.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei6-360x236.jpeg 360w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei6-768x504.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei6.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, they claim that the longest tunnel in Portugal is in Madeira, that we used to have the biggest movie theater here, the best desalination plant, that the Jo\u00e3o Gomes bridge has the biggest span in Portugal, that the best player in the world is CR7, that it was from Madeira that sugarcane was shipped to Brazil and Hawaii, that it was the braguinha that gave rise to the ukulele, etc., etc.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei8-347x500.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71019 lazyload\" style=\"width:529px;height:auto\" title=\"\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"347\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei8-347x500.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71019\" style=\"width:529px;height:auto\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei8-347x500.jpeg 347w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei8-250x360.jpeg 250w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei8-768x1106.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei8.jpeg 1067w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 347px) 100vw, 347px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But they forget that the Christ the King monument in Garajau is the oldest in the world, inaugurated on April 16, 1927, the year Pope Benedict XVI was born. It is 14 meters high, including the pedestal and the statue. Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, at 38 meters, dates back to 1931, and the one in Almada, at 28 meters, was inaugurated in 1959.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei2-500x376.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71020 lazyload\" style=\"width:629px;height:auto\" title=\"\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"376\" src=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei2-500x376.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71020\" style=\"width:629px;height:auto\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei2-500x376.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei2-360x271.jpeg 360w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei2-768x578.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei2.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was erected in 1927, at his own expense, on land belonging to his Morgadio do Cani\u00e7o, located in Ponta do Garajau, by Councilor Aires de Ornelas, in fulfillment of a promise. He was born in Camacha on March 5, 1866. He died in Lisbon on December 14, 1930, and his body was transferred to the Miseric\u00f3rdia or Nossa Senhora das Ang\u00fastias cemetery in 1934, which was located in the area of \u200b\u200bpresent-day Quinta Vigia. It was transferred again between 1939 and 1944 to S\u00e3o Martinho.<br \/>But our visit to Christ the King allowed us to take a photographic survey of the monument&#8217;s current condition. It has been &#8220;imprisoned&#8221; by a fence for over a year, as if it were a leper. Those afflicted with this terrible disease were once forced to live apart from society.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei10-311x500.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71021 lazyload\" style=\"width:560px;height:auto\" title=\"\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"311\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei10-311x500.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71021\" style=\"width:560px;height:auto\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei10-311x500.jpeg 311w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei10-224x360.jpeg 224w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei10-768x1234.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei10.jpeg 956w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 311px) 100vw, 311px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Christ the King is &#8220;imprisoned&#8221; to prevent visitors from being hit by the disintegrating materials of the sculpture by French sculptor Georges Serraz.<br \/>The hands and head are decomposing. The tombstones surrounding the pedestal are rusting. This is how this statue is presented to the hundreds of tourists who visit this site: a cloistered monument, without any explanation.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei12-500x445.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71022 lazyload\" style=\"width:649px;height:auto\" title=\"\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"445\" src=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei12-500x445.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71022\" style=\"width:649px;height:auto\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei12-500x445.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei12-360x321.jpeg 360w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei12-768x684.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei12.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Garajau is a pleasant place, with a cable car, a beach, a caf\u00e9-snack bar, restrooms, and a parking lot, and the surrounding area is clean. But its hallmark, its hallmark, is Christ the King, which is &#8220;sick,&#8221; like an &#8220;impure&#8221; statue that&#8217;s falling apart, as if it were leprosy. Today, it&#8217;s treatable, but in this case, there&#8217;s no solution in sight.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei14-500x297.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71023 lazyload\" style=\"width:675px;height:auto\" title=\"\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"297\" src=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei14-500x297.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71023\" style=\"width:675px;height:auto\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei14-500x297.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei14-360x214.jpeg 360w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei14-768x456.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cristo-rei14.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today we were in Garajau to check on site the condition of the Christ the King monument, the oldest of its kind in the world. The Madeirans are proud to say: \u201cWe are the first and the best in this and that.\u201d For example, they claim that the longest tunnel in Portugal is in Madeira, that we used to have the biggest movie theater here, the best desalination plant, that the Jo\u00e3o Gomes bridge has the biggest span in Portugal, that the best player in the world is CR7, that it was from Madeira that sugarcane was shipped to Brazil and Hawaii, that it was the braguinha that gave rise to the ukulele, etc., etc. But they forget that the Christ the King monument in Garajau is the oldest in the world, inaugurated on April 16, 1927, the year Pope Benedict XVI was born. It is 14 meters high, including the pedestal and the statue. Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, at 38 meters, dates back to 1931, and the one in Almada, at 28 meters, was inaugurated in 1959. It was erected in 1927, at his own expense, on land belonging to his Morgadio do Cani\u00e7o, located in Ponta do Garajau, by Councilor Aires de Ornelas, in fulfillment of a promise. He was born in Camacha on March 5, 1866. He died in Lisbon on December 14, 1930, and his body was transferred to the Miseric\u00f3rdia or Nossa Senhora das Ang\u00fastias cemetery in 1934, which was located in the area of \u200b\u200bpresent-day Quinta Vigia. It was transferred again between 1939 and 1944 to S\u00e3o Martinho.But our visit to Christ the King allowed us to take a photographic survey of the monument&#8217;s current condition. It has been &#8220;imprisoned&#8221; by a fence for over a year, as if it were a leper. Those afflicted with this terrible disease were once forced to live apart from society. Christ the King is &#8220;imprisoned&#8221; to prevent visitors from being hit by the disintegrating materials of the sculpture by French sculptor Georges Serraz.The hands and head are decomposing. The tombstones surrounding the pedestal are rusting. This is how this statue is presented to the hundreds of tourists who visit this site: a cloistered monument, without any explanation. Garajau is a pleasant place, with a cable car, a beach, a caf\u00e9-snack bar, restrooms, and a parking lot, and the surrounding area is clean. But its &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"The Christ the King sculpture of Garajau is \u201csick\u201d and cloistered\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/the-christ-the-king-sculpture-of-garajau-is-sick-and-cloistered\/#more-71015\" aria-label=\"Read more about The Christ the King sculpture of Garajau is \u201csick\u201d and cloistered\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":12264,"featured_media":71016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-island-regional-people-headlines","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12264"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madeiraislanddirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}