Dili
Dili (Portuguese: Díli) is the capital and most populous city of East Timor. It is located on the northeast coast of the island of Timor.
History
Dili was founded by the Portuguese in 1520 and in 1769 it became the new capital of Portuguese Timor, replacing Lifau, in the current enclave of Oecussi-Ambeno, as it was too vulnerable to Dutch attacks.
The first capital of Portuguese Timor was Lifau, located five kilometers west of Pante Macassar, in the enclave of Oecusse. It was there that the first Portuguese settlement was located in what is now East Timor, created in the middle of the 17th century, since the Fort de Coupon built in the city of Coupon (now known as Kupang) in 1646 had to be abandoned in 1653 by imposition of the Dutch empire.
Regional conflicts against the Portuguese authorities in Lifau led Governor António José Teles de Meneses to evacuate the square on August 11, 1769, destroying it before abandoning it.
The new capital of Portuguese Timor was founded in Dili Bay and construction began on October 10 of the same year. In the early years, the town was just a small group of wooden houses, summarily protected by trenches and bastions. In 1813, Dili had a population of 1,768. The fragile wooden buildings were finally consumed by successive fires until, in 1834, under the direction of Governor José María Marques, Dili was properly urbanized, being elevated to city status in January 1864. In 1852, Dili had 3,017 inhabitants.. In 1879, Dili had a population of 4,114 people.
Rafael Jácome Lopes de Andrade, between 1881 and 1888, carried out several improvements in Dili, connecting the city with the surrounding towns by road, building a water supply network and erecting the site of the port.
Already at the beginning of the neoclassical inspiration, the cathedral and the building of the city hall of Dili are built. With the Japanese occupation of Timor during World War II, these two buildings were destroyed. It was a particularly black period in the history of Dili and Timor, with massacres of the population and widespread destruction of the building. The city suffered ninety-four bombardments, also by Australian planes. The cathedral was destroyed in 1943.
At the end of the war, Timor returned to Portuguese rule, undergoing a painful and protracted reconstruction of the colony's capital and all other population centers. Already during the stay of Colonel Filipe José Freire Temudo Barata (governor between 1959 and 1963) the Dili water bridge was built, the sewage system was restored, the regular supply of water and electricity. Schools and hospitals were built and repaired or new streets, highways and bridges were built.
He was followed by General José Alberty Correia (governor from 1963 to 1967) who paved the main streets of Dili, extended the period of electricity supply to 24 hours a day, and approved legislation regulating aesthetic conditions, hygiene and comfort to which all constructions must comply. Funds from the Development Plan and the Ministry of Overseas were used to build several buildings in the city: the Center for Telecommunications Issuers, the public works workshops, the Technical School, the National Printing Office, the Post Office, Telegraph and Telephone Center, and Also prison. The port was modernized and expanded and new warehouses and accesses were built, increasing its capacity and being able to receive ships of up to seven thousand tons, such as the "India" and the "Timor" of the Colonial Navigation Company. In 1965, the city's population was 10,338.
Between 1968 and 1972, during the government of General José Nogueira Valente Pires, the city council built social neighborhoods aimed at the most disadvantaged population, contributing to the improvement of the general health of the city. In 1972, Dili had 17,000 inhabitants.
East Timor unilaterally proclaimed its independence on November 28, 1975. However, nine days later, Indonesia invaded Dili, transforming the territory into its 27th Indonesian province, named "Timor Timur". However, the Timorese resistance, grouped around the Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor (FRETILIN), continued a guerrilla fight against the occupation, fiercely fought by the Indonesian Armed Forces. During the twenty-five years that the occupation lasted, tens of thousands of civilians were killed.
In 1991, the massacre of the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili took place, which resulted in international support for the East Timorese independence cause.
In 1998, with the fall of dictator Suharto and the rise to power of Jusuf Habibie, the Indonesian government agreed to hold a United Nations-supervised referendum in East Timor. The majority of the population (78.5%) voted for independence, angering Indonesian-orchestrated militias, leading to the destruction of much of the city. On May 20, 2002, Dili became the capital of the Democratic Republic of East Timor.
Most of the buildings were damaged as a result of acts of violence in 1999, however, the city still preserves many buildings and monuments from the Portuguese era.
In order to enable sustainable development and eliminate the lawless character and high population density of the capital of East Timor, with the support of the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon, the University of Lisbon has drawn up an Urbanization Plan for Dili, which has allowed the design of streets and public spaces, making equipment and infrastructures, authorizing large constructions and applying proposals within the framework of sectoral policies.
Architecture
Buildings
The Nicolau Lobato Presidency Palace was inaugurated on August 27, 2009, an offer from the government of the People's Republic of China to the government of East Timor, in honor of the independent politician Nicolau de los Reyes Lobato.
The East Timorese Government Palace is one of the buildings built in Dili during the Portuguese period that became the seat of government and provincial offices. Currently it is the seat of the office of the prime minister, as well as the secretaries of state. It is a construction made by New State (Portugal). The choice of a wide colonnade is the result of the influence of the Comercio constructions in Lisbon that they wanted to reflect there. Near it, facing the sea, there are three large ancient cannons that recall the times when they marked a strong presence of the Portuguese. The marginal avenue that extends into the bay next to the Government Palace is the main area used for walking.
In a project supported by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Bank, the rehabilitation of the old infantry barracks has recently been carried out for the creation of the Cultural Center Uma Fukun, which provides the capital of Timor-Leste with specially dedicated exhibition spaces, meeting rooms, shops and a whole range of support services.
From the social and care point of view, we highlight the Leonor Dias 1947 Maternity, deactivated and degraded, the Dr. António Cândido de Carvalho Hospital, also in 1947, operating in a complementary and limited manner, the Military Hospital and the National Hospital Guido Valadares.
Among the educational centers are the buildings of the former Professor Silva Cunha Preparatory School and Commercial and Industrial School, built in 1964, and the former Doctor Francisco Machado, which was built in 1922-24 and destroyed in the war. After reconstruction it was inaugurated as a secondary school in 1952 and expanded between 1955 and 1956 according to the plans of Eurico Pinto Lopes, with the support of the Lisbon Municipal Council. Both are currently integrated into the Timor National University. There is also the Dare Seminary.
From a religious point of view, the most important churches are the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Balide, and the Church of San Antonio de Motael. In 1940 the Dili Cathedral was created, whose building was destroyed in 1943 during its belonging to Japan by Australian planes. The modern Hosana Church, inaugurated in 2014 by Xanana Gusmão, is a building of the iha Timor Lorosa'e Protestant Church.
Other buildings found in Dili are the former premises of Banco Nacional Ultramarino, Sociedad Agrícola Pátria e Trabalho (SAPT), and the building of the Industrial and Agricultural Association of Timor (ACAIT), which is also the headquarters from the Portuguese mission and from Correios de Timor Leste. Other important buildings are the cinema, the radio transmitting station, which was built in 1970 but is currently abandoned, and the Municipal Slaughterhouse. The former residence of the manager of the National Overseas Bank is located on August 30 street, in the Bidau Lecidere juice. The Sociedade Agrícola Pátria e Trabalho (SAPT) building was built between 1948 and 1949 as one of the first reforms in Dili after the war. The East Timorese Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is housed in a colonial building in Motael juice renovated in 2003.
Monuments
The Monument to Our Lady, built during the Marian year of 1954, occupies the center of a garden in Lecidere square, to the east of the Government Palace square and in front of the Leonor Dias maternity hospital. It depicts the East Timorese arms of Portuguese Timor and, at the top, the image of Our Lady surrounded by angels.
The Monument to the Victims of the Occupation of Timor by the Japanese, erected in 1946 in Taibesse juice, has a pedestal surmounted by a shield with the arms of Portugal and national colors, with two crossed rifles below. The whole set is located in a quadrangular area, flanked by cannon grenades.
The Monument to Infante D. Henrique is located in the central square, in front of the Government Palace and is over two meters high. It was built in 1960 as part of the celebrations of the fifth centenary of the death of Henry the Navigator. On the sea side, the monument appears as a standard, crowned with the shield of five fifths and the cross of Christ and also includes a high relief related to the discoveries with the wind rose and the inscription: By Seas Never Dantes Navigates.
The Monument to the Administrator Lieutenant Manuel de Jesús Pires is located in Colmera, west of the central square of Dili from the Government Palace, facing the port, a small triangular garden surrounded by a wrought iron eaves, including in its center a monument "To Administrator Teniente Manuel de Jesús Pires 1895-1944", as mentioned in the legend at the base of the pedestal. The monument is oriented towards the east to the central square and has, next to the city, the shield with the arms of Portugal, in front and crowning the pedestal the cross of Christ.
Next to the garden of the Monument to the Administrator Teniente Manuel de Jesús Pires, a vast square garden surrounded by a wall and a gate that overlooks the port, includes in its center a monument to Our Lady, which is reached by the only shopping center in the garden, flanked on both sides by lighting that evokes the milestones of the Calvary of Christ. The Monument to the Reconstruction of Timor consists of a pedestal with a small statue of Our Lady surmounted by a palm tree cover identical to that of the roofs of Timorese houses. On the pedestal there is a subtitle under the Portuguese flag: "Portugal and faith in the reconstruction of Timor" and the text "2nd Infantry Battalion of the Light Intervention Brigade, May 13, 2001".
The Monument to Engineer Artur do Canto Resende was erected in a garden next to the lighthouse and facing the sea. It is the only one in Dili that presents a bronze bust of the honored figure on a pedestal surmounted by a shield with the arms of Portugal and the legend: Engineer Arthur do Canto Resende, murdered in prison in Calabai in 1945, victim of his patriotism and his heroic selflessness.
The statue of Christ the King of Dili, placed on Mount Fatumaca in the western part of Dili, from where you can see the island of Atauro, was inaugurated in October 1996 by President Suharto, in the midst of the occupation Indonesia. Its seventy-six steps and twenty-seven meters high are a clear allusion to the annexation of East Timor in 1976 as the twenty-seventh province of Indonesia. The statue was built with the financial support of Jakarta, the government of Timor Timur province, and several companies, including the Garuda Indonesia airline. The construction of the statue of Christ the King generated much controversy among the population, being seen by many Timorese as a political symbol imposed by Jakarta, and not as a merely religious image. On November 24, 1996, in a ceremony attended by fifty thousand people, Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, calling for justice and peace in East Timor, ended up blessing the statue of Christ the King, after being pressured by the authorities to do so..
The Integration Monument, located in what is still commonly known as "Taman Integrasi" (Integration Park) in central Dili, was built by the Indonesian authorities to commemorate the integration of Timor-Leste as its 17th province. It consists of a statue of a "Liurai" (local Timorese chief) in traditional clothing and armed with his sword, freeing himself from the shackles that bound him with his feet and hands. The base of the statue is suspended by four large columns, reminiscent of Stalinist monuments. Several similar integration monuments were built throughout the territory.
Climate
 Average Dili climate parameters | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Ene. | Feb. | Mar. | Open up. | May. | Jun. | Jul. | Ago. | Sep. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | Annual |
| Temp. max. abs. (°C) | 36.0 | 35.5 | 36.6 | 36.0 | 35.7 | 36.5 | 34.1 | 35.0 | 34.0 | 34.5 | 36.0 | 36.6 | 36.6 |
| Average temperature (°C) | 31.3 | 31.1 | 31.2 | 31.5 | 31.3 | 30.7 | 30.2 | 30.1 | 30.3 | 30.5 | 31.4 | 31.1 | 30.9 |
| Average temperature (°C) | 27.7 | 27.6 | 27.4 | 27.4 | 27.0 | 26.8 | 25.5 | 25.1 | 25.4 | 26.0 | 27.2 | 27.4 | 26.6 |
| Temp. medium (°C) | 24.1 | 24.1 | 23.5 | 23.5 | 22.8 | 21.9 | 20.8 | 20.1 | 20.5 | 21.5 | 23.0 | 23.6 | 22.4 |
| Temp. min. abs. (°C) | 19.0 | 16.2 | 16.5 | 18.2 | 13.2 | 14.5 | 12.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 16.1 | 18.0 | 16.7 | 11.8 |
| Total precipitation (mm) | 139.5 | 138.7 | 132.7 | 104.3 | 74.9 | 58.4 | 20.1 | 12.1 | 9.0 | 12.8 | 61.4 | 144.9 | 908.8 |
| Days of rain (≥ 1 mm) | 13 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 80 |
| Hours of sun | 189.1 | 161.0 | 235.6 | 234.0 | 266.6 | 246.0 | 272.8 | 291.4 | 288.0 | 297.6 | 270.0 | 220.1 | 2972.2 |
| Relative humidity (%) | 80 | 82 | 80 | 77 | 75 | 72 | 71 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 77 | 75 |
| Source: | |||||||||||||
Administration
Dili, is the headquarters of the administration of the district of Dili, which is the administrative entity of the area and includes the island of Atauro and some cities near the city of Dili. The city is part of the subdistricts of Naín Feto, Veracruz, Dom Aleixo and Cristo Rei and is divided into several sucos, which are in charge of one of the elected suco chiefs. 18 of the 26 sucos in the four sub-districts are classified as urban. There is no city administration alongside the district administrator, who was appointed by the state. The Timorese government began planning in 2009 to change the status of districts into municipalities. These will have an elected mayor and a council.
Economy
It is the main port and commercial center of the country.
Transportation
The city has the Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport, which is used for commercial and military flights.
Twinned cities
Coimbra, Portugal
Darwin, Australia
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