5/5 Manan S. 3 years ago on Google
The
Sanctuary
of
Christ
the
King[1][2][3]
(Portuguese:
Santuário
de
Cristo
Rei)
is
a
Catholic
monument
and
shrine
dedicated
to
the
Sacred
Heart
of
Jesus
Christ
overlooking
the
city
of
Lisbon
situated
in
Almada,
in
Portugal.
It
was
inspired
by
the
Christ
the
Redeemer
statue
of
Rio
de
Janeiro,
in
Brazil,
after
the
Cardinal
Patriarch
of
Lisbon
visited
that
monument.
The
project
was
inaugurated
on
17
May
1959,
while
Portugal
was
ruled
by
the
authoritarian
President
of
the
Council
of
Ministers
António
de
Oliveira
Salazar
who
gave
his
final
permission
for
the
project.
The
giant
statue
in
cement
was
erected
to
express
gratitude
because
the
Portuguese
were
spared
the
effects
of
World
War
II.The
construction
of
the
Christ
the
King
monument
was
approved
in
a
Portuguese
Episcopate
conference,
held
in
Fátima
on
20
April
1940,
as
a
plea
to
God
to
release
Portugal
from
entering
World
War
II.[4]
However,
the
idea
had
originated
earlier
on
a
visit
of
the
Cardinal
Patriarch
of
Lisbon
to
Rio
de
Janeiro
in
1934,
soon
after
the
inauguration
of
the
statue
of
Christ
the
Redeemer
in
1931.[5][6]
View
of
Cristo-Rei
with
the
Tagus
River
in
the
foreground
and
Almada
in
the
background
In
1941
the
land
which
was
used
to
construct
the
monument
was
acquired.[5]
In
1949
the
cornerstone
was
finally
placed
on
the
site,
and
managed
by
the
Portuguese
Episcopate.[5][6]
Construction
began
in
1949
and
took
ten
years
to
complete,
funded
and
supported
by
Apostleship
of
Prayer
members.[5]
Yet
it
was
only
in
1952
that
the
first
construction
started
on
the
site;
at
that
time
the
foundations
of
the
monument
were
established
by
Empresa
de
Construções
OPCA
(at
the
time,
at
a
cost
of
3.020
contos)