Viewpoints · 172 m above the sea
Cristo Rei do Garajau
1927 Art Deco Christ statue on a 283m clifftop, four years before Rio's
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The place
Completed in October 1927, this 15m Art Deco Christ statue on the Garajau headland actually predates Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer by four years. The clifftop has a grim past — it's where non-Catholics were once denied burial and thrown from the cliffs — but today it's simply one of the south coast's best panoramic stops, looking back over Funchal bay to the Desertas Islands.
When to come
Late afternoon, with the sun behind you lighting up Funchal bay
Worth knowing
- Free, open-air, no set hours
- Parish of Caniço, municipality of Santa Cruz
- A small cable car nearby drops 200m to the beach and marine reserve below
- Combine with a stop at the Garajau nature reserve directly beneath it