Council keen to ensure 90-ton obelisk isn’t in evidence during World Youth Day
The countdown has begun on the temporary masking of the ‘willy’ (o pirilau) sculpture by João Cutileiro which has stood proudly in Lisbon’s Park Eduardo VII, commemorating April 25, since 1997.
Officially christened “Cravo e Colunas (carnation and columns)”, the phallic element of the work is meant to symbolise the virile force and vigour of the revolution.
But it could all be too much for the Pope when he visits the park as part of events scheduled for World Youth Day in the first week of August, which is why the decision has been made to restore the massive sculpture, ensuring that it will be temporarily masked, at a total cost of €121,218 (including IVA).
According to Correio da Manhã’s Saturday ‘Correio Indiscreto’ the entire sculpture is being dismantled and removed (to be returned to its place after the celebrations of the Catholic Church have ended). This was the original idea of the council, as Público explained earlier this year. But the council then opted for the cheaper option of ‘restoring the monument’ (which has suffered a number of fissures over the years) and keeping it under wraps for the entirety of World Youth Day.
World Youth Day is costing Lisbon council, the government and the Portuguese Catholic Church combined a small fortune: last ‘estimates’ were in the region of €160 million. Over 1.5 million visitors are expected during the event, which runs from August 1-6 – and in spite of all preparatory efforts, authorities have warned that traffic and quite a bit else in the capital, is likely to become “a chaos” in the days affected.
