Opened on 13 April 2007, the Life of Christ Museum is a museum complex where the life of Jesus is portrayed, from the Annunciation of the Angel to Mary to the Ascension of Jesus to Heaven, in a total of 33 scenes, through life-size wax figures dressed in clothes made with fabrics manufactured in the Sertã area on manual looms by Portuguese artisan women. The project involved an investment of 12 million euros.[2]
In August 2017 it was announced that the museum would close and be liquidated, after its main creditors rejected an insolvency plan in a last attempt to keep the museum in operation. The museum had a debt of around six million euros, with the biggest creditor being Caixa Geral de Depósitos, which voted in favor of its liquidation. The insolvency sentence of the Life of Christ Museum would be handed down. Subsequently, meeting in an assembly, the creditors ordered the closure of the museum's activities.[3]
In 2021, the Life of Christ Museum was sold for a total of 1.1 million euros with the property being acquired by Renowned Champion, a real estate company based in Lisbon. According to the acquiring company, the Life of Christ Museum was considered the third best wax museum in the world by Tony Julius, director of the London company that manufactured the wax figures and former collaborator of the Madame Tussauds Museum.[4][5][6]
The Life of Christ Museum reopened to the public on March 15, 2024.[7][8][9][10][11][12]
With an area of 4,400m2, the Life of Christ Museum has 210 wax figures, distributed in 33 scenes. With modern architecture, in light colors, the exterior is clad in granite and copper. Internally, it is divided into floors with great light and ample circulation spaces:
two floors to narrate the life of Christ;
two floors as a complement to the commercial area;
two floors for parking light vehicles.
The Life of Christ Museum has a shopping arcade with 16 stores, five storage rooms and a car park in the basement with around a hundred parking spaces.
