The tomb built for Pele’s golden casket was opened to visitors on Monday.
On the second floor of the Vertical Tomb in Santos, just outside São Paulo, the tomb greets visitors with two golden statues of Pele; turf artificial grass; The walls are pictures of fans in a stadium; There is a soundtrack of endless cheers, as if Pele is still playing. The ceiling above the casket of the three-time World Cup champion is blue.
Peele was buried here on January 3, five days after he died of colon cancer at the age of 82.
“It was done with great love by those who knew him and lived with him. This is the essence of what he was,” Edson Solpi do Nascimento, one of Pele’s sons, said after a small ceremony with family and friends.
The cemetery was planned by the cemetery’s owner, Pepe Alstedt, who died in 2018.
Overlooking the Santos club’s Vila Belmiro stadium, where Pele starred for 18 years, Alsted believed the tomb would be on the ninth floor. Instead, his family buried him on the second floor so fans could have better access.
“I’m shaking. The energy in this place is surreal,” said Erica Nascimento, a tearful 42-year-old economist.
Former footballer Roberto Milano, 56, was also moved.
„He’s a part of my life,” Milano said. „As we grow older we must follow great role models. He may be the greatest of all these role models.”
Fans wishing to attend should register a time on the Memorial Cemetery website.
Pele led Brazil to World Cup titles in 1958, 1962 and 1970. He is the only player to win three times. Last month, the Brazilian dictionary added „Pelé” as an adjective to use when describing someone „exceptional, incomparable, unique.” The Michaelis dictionary announcement is part of a campaign that has gathered more than 125,000 signatures to honor the impact of late footballers.