The city occupies a coastal plane between two headlands, each of which has a famous statue: to the east, is the kristu Rei (Jesus Christ) statue perched atop Cape Fatucama, with its beautiful white sand beaches.  There is a pathway to the summit where the 27-metre-tall sits on a globe, commanding one of the best scenic views in the country.  Pilgrims can pause at shrines to the Stations of the Cross on the way up.  The statue was built by the Indonesians as a gift to the Timorese people during the occupation, in 1996. 

To the west, there is a six-meter-tall bronze statue of Pope John Paul II, erected in 2008 in Tacitolu, where this Pontiff celebrated Mass on Oct. 12, 1989, during the Indonesian occupation.  The statue, which overlooks the capital's western fringe and faces the sea, stands next to a chapel for Sunday Mass, also built in the late Pope's honour.