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Most sports boast a legendary figure who managed to impact the game on a level that makes their legacy virtually impossible to top.
For example, it’s hard to imagine anyone will ever be able to match the mark Tiger Woods left on the world of golf, and while basketball fans will never stop debating who deserves to be considered the G.O.A.T., we’ll probably never see anyone achieve the level of international superstardom Michael Jordan boasted in his prime.
Plenty of soccer players have ascended to similar levels of fortune and fame, but there aren’t many people who grew the game quite like Pelé, the Brazilian who emerged as a teenage sensation in the late 1950s and capped off one of the most illustrious careers in the history of the sport when he played his final professional game in 1977.
On December 29, 2022, Pelé passed away at the age of 82 following a battle with cancer, and more than 200,00 people came out to pay their respects during a funeral that lasted a full 24 hours.
Pelé was interred at Memorial Necrópole Ecumênica in São Paulo (which has the distinction of being the tallest cemetery in the world), and now, anyone who wants to pay tribute to the late icon can do so by taking a trip to the lavish mausoleum that recently opened to the public.
Visitors to the tomb are greeted by two golden statues of Pelé flanking the entrance to a room containing an ornate casket surrounded by artificial turf and flanked by speakers that pump the sound of cheering fans into the memorial space.
There’s a reason Pelé was known as “The King”—and it’s safe to say the tomb is fit for a man who earned that moniker.