Mount Matebean Mane, Mountain summit in Baucau region, Timor-Leste.

Mount Matebean Mane is a 2,372-meter summit in the Baucau region featuring limestone formations and steep slopes covered with eucalyptus groves and gardens. From the top, you can see across the surrounding landscape in all directions.

Matebian was the last major FALINTIL support base. From 1977 civilians evacuated from villages such as Tequinaumata, Samalari and Guruça were resettled around the mountain, and political commissar Abel Larisina and his adjutant Xanana Gusmão organised food supplies. In October 1978 the base was bombed from the air and shelled from the sea for two weeks, killing 20 to 30 people a day; FALINTIL was overrun on 24 November 1978 and surrendered the next day. Caves used as shelters can still be visited.

The name Matebian means "mountain of souls" or "mountain of the dead"; the Makasae call it Bere Meta, "great black". Many regard the massif as sacred because the spirits of the ancestors are said to live there. Each October and at All Saints' Day, thousands of pilgrims climb to the Cristo Rei statue on Matebian Mane, a 1993 gift visited every year.

The best time to climb is from August to October, when cloud cover is minimal and visibility across the landscape remains clear. During these months, visitors can tackle the route under better conditions.

The summit statue of Cristo Rei dates from 1993, not a chapel. Every October and at All Saints' Day thousands of pilgrims climb to it; the trail is then closed by the rainy season until February. The massif also holds large deposits of manganese.