It is a last resting place appropriate for “The King”: Brazil revealed Pele’s gilded, football-turfed mausoleum to the public on Monday, six months after the death of the man who is largely acknowledged to be the greatest player of all time.
Pele, who fought illness until his death on December 29 at the age of 82, was put to rest in the Ecumenical Memorial Cemetery in Santos, Brazil. Pele’s funeral was held on December 28. It is a high-rise mausoleum that is 14 stories tall and currently holds the record for the highest cemetery on Earth according to Guinness World Records.
Fans were greeted by two life-size golden statues of the athlete who was given the moniker “O Rei” (which translates to “The King”) His remains are kept in a big golden vault that is shown in the midst of a space that is more than 2,000 square feet (200 square meters) in size and is carpeted in artificial grass.
“It much beyond what I had anticipated. “It’s a really beautiful place,” said Ronaldo Rodrigues, a 44-year-old businessman who was in the front of the queue to visit the tomb with his wife. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been here,” said his wife.
“I hope that a large number of tourists will come to visit and learn a little bit about Pele’s story, what he stood for for Santos, Brazil, and the entire world,” said the tourist. “Pele was a legend.”
Pele, whose birth name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, is the only player in the history of the World Cup to win it three times (1958, 1962, and 1970).
During his more than two-decade long career, he played for Santos (1956–1974), the New York Cosmos (1975–1977), and the Brazilian national team. He finished his career with a world record 1,281 goals scored.
Pele’s son Edinho broke down in tears as he explained to the swarm of reporters that had gathered in the port city in the state’s southeast that the family was still having trouble coming to terms with their loss.
Nevertheless, as he put it, “but we are also very proud and happy at all the affection and reverence that has kept pouring in.”
A sign-up sheet may be found on the cemetery’s website, and visitors must be one of the sixty persons allowed each day in order to see the grave.
Pele’s golden vault contains black etchings on its sides that portray him scoring his 1,000th goal and his iconic raised-fist goal celebration. The cross that sits atop the vault serves as the capstone. The walls of the room are covered in photographs of people cheering at a sporting event.
A Mercedes-Benz S-280, which was presented to Pele by Mercedes-Benz in 1974 to mark the player’s scoring of his 1,000th goal, is currently on display in the resort-like cemetery’s car museum.
“It’s a place that’s rich in detail, all lovingly assembled in tribute, as the ‘King’ deserves,” cemetery manager Paulo Campos said in an interview with AFP. “The King” deserves it.
The tomb is located a distance of fewer than one kilometer (about 0.6 mile) from the Vila Belmiro, the stadium in which Pele played the most of his legendary career.