Monument to the Discoveries

A modernist concrete prow jutting into the Tagus at Belém, built in 1960 to mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator. Thirty-three figures stand on the prow's flanks: Henry at the front, Vasco da Gama, Fernão Magalhães (Magellan), Luís de Camões, Bartolomeu Dias, and others who made the Age of Discovery. The design is unapologetically heroic in the mid-century Portuguese style.

You can take a lift to the top for views across the Tagus and along the Belém waterfront to the monastery and tower. The giant marble compass rose in the pavement below is another photo opportunity. The monument sits between the Jerónimos Monastery and the Belém Tower on Belém's waterfront esplanade.

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The compass rose mosaic at the base of the monument — a 50-metre diameter map of the world inlaid in the pavement, given to Lisbon by the South African government in 1960 — marks the routes of the Portuguese explorers and the dates of their discoveries. Standing at its centre, you can see the lines radiating out to the coasts of Africa, India, Brazil, and East Asia — the geography of an empire built in 80 years of relentless navigation.

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