Welcome to Dili, the capital and largest city of Timor-Leste. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, on a small strip of flat land hemmed in by mountains. Dili has been the chief port of this land since it became the capital of Portuguese Timor in 1769. Its modern history has been turbulent, from a battle between Allied and Japanese forces in World War Two to years of Indonesian rule and violence around the independence vote. In 2002 Dili became the capital of an independent Timor-Leste. Let's explore its bay, its monuments and its memories.
Cristo Rei of Dili
Photo: Kok Leng, Yeo from Singapore, Singapore · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsAt the tip of Cape Fatucama, Christ the King stands on top of a globe, a statue 27 metres high and one of the country's main attractions. It was unveiled in 1996 as a gift from the Indonesian government, at a time when this land was an Indonesian province. To reach it, you climb a staircase of 570 concrete steps shaded by trees. Your reward at the top is a panoramic view back across the bay to Dili, and north over the straits to Atauro Island.
Immaculate Conception Cathedral
Photo: Bahnfrend · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsBefore you stands the Immaculate Conception Metropolitan Cathedral, the main church of the Catholic Archdiocese of Dili. It was inaugurated in 1988 and can hold 2,000 people. In 1989 it was blessed by Pope John Paul the Second. The cathedral also played a part in the country's struggle for independence, when leaders such as the Nobel laureate Bishop Belo urged people to approach the vote with the humility of Christ.
Government Palace
Photo: David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsFacing the waterfront is the Government Palace, the official workplace of the prime minister and the government of Timor-Leste. In the last years of Portuguese rule it was the office of the colonial governor. It replaced an earlier palace, a long single-storey building with a colonnaded façade, built between 1874 and 1881 as the governor's residence. That role did not last long: by 1886 the governor had moved to a new residence in the mountains south of Dili.
Timorese Resistance Archive and Museum
Photo: Isabel Nolasco Timor · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThis museum tells the story of Timor-Leste's struggle for independence from Indonesia. It opened in 2005 inside the former Court of Justice of Portuguese Timor, a building burnt down during the crisis of 1999. Its main exhibition is called To Resist is to Win, and it traces the history of both the armed and the clandestine resistance, using audio-visual sources wherever possible. Take a moment here; it is a place of remembrance as much as of history.
Atauro
Photo: molly+ · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsLook north across the water from Dili and you will see Atauro, a small oceanic island. It sits on an extinct segment of a volcanic arc, between the Indonesian islands of Alor and Wetar, and it is also known as Kambing Island. Atauro was once part of the Dili municipality, but since 2022 it has been a municipality of its own.
Areia Branca Beach
Photo: Bahnfrend · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsOn the north-eastern shore of the Bay of Dili lies Areia Branca, whose name is Portuguese for white sand. True to its name, the beach is white and sandy, about 600 metres long, fringed by shady trees and backed by steep, low hills. Those hills are part of an Important Bird Area. The water is very shallow, especially at low tide, and on Sundays the beach is often crowded from early morning until late at night with locals and visitors alike.
Lomakuume
