Sagres, Faro, PortugalSAGRES
In Pottery country
As we drove down the road, we
discovered this supercool store with lots and lots of plates on the outside and
some huge terracotta pots: turn around time and time to check it out: they have
some beautiful pottery: big question is now can we take some of it home??? Gine
says yes and so we have now a Sardine salt and pepper shaker – as per Paul they
are not very practical and as per Gine they are awesome.
- Why is there so much pottery? They were used for traps for octopus who prefer clean, smooth and barnacle free pots, the octopus thinks that the jar is a cozy place to set an ambush and climb in and then get pulled out of the water and that is the end of the octopus: and today the tourists like it
Rain at the Fortress Sagres
as we drive along, we see a lot
of country side and no more big tourist towns, because everything west of Lagos
is a nature park. Once we arrive Paul parked in a No-Parking zone. And it rains
– I mean it pours!! We walked over to the fortress entrance and as we think
about if we should pay it starts pouring, I mean sidewise and a lot, that would
mean being soaked in seconds – so we decided to skip it and rather continue a
bit along the coast to the Lighthouse. But Gine still had to tell Paul the
historic significance of this spot.
We did walk over to the ocean
and looked down at the crashing sea and the cliffs and went after a bit very
fast back to the car: yes, it was raining again!!
At the end of the world?
- Cape Sagres is Europe’s ’Lands End’ in the days before Columbus, when the world was presumed being flat and this was the spot closes to the edge of the earth: so what is out there: the Sea of Darkness where the monsters roam and the hot equator sun will melt the ships and it makes the sea boil and will turn white man black
- the Romans called it Promontorium Sacrum (Sacred = Sagres) – Pilgrims came here to visit this awe-inspiring place but were prohibited from spending the night here, it was for the gods alone:
- Henry the Navigator stayed here to update maps, debrief returning sailors, signing pay checks to the brave sea men who travelled under his order which was not to return until they explored the unknown – he ordered the superstitious sailors to press on, they also had to keep travel journals that he later studied
- In 1420 Henry built here a school for navigators to sent the sailors further into the unkown –it got destroyed in the 1755 earthquake: which was 50 miles offshore from here in the Atlantic – the current fortress is from the 18th century
- and what did they teach here: map-making, ship building, sailing, astronomy, maths, botany, zoology, antropology, languages and salesmanship for mingling with the locals – by the way some of the captured Africans gave lectures here
- and who studied here: Italians, Scandinavians, Germans – no distinguishing you could be a Christian, Muslim or jew and some of the famous students were Ferdinand Magellan, Vasco da Gama, Pedro Cobral, Batholomeu Dias
- in 1476 Italian Christopher Columbus shipwrecked offshore and washed ashore, he studied and sailed then with the Portuguese and married a Portuguese women – even he later sailed for the Spanish
- Henry died here in 1460
Dom Henrique or Henry the
Navigator:
- Born in 1394 he was the middle child of King Joao I of Portugal and he died here in Sagres in 1460. And during our trip we went to a lot of places he was during his life and we did what he does: we are exploring new countries
- He was a scholar, organizer, religious man and the brain behind Portugal’s daring sea voyages – he drove the Age of Discovery
- When he was 21, he planned the logistic for the large-scale ship invasion of the Muslim city of Ceuta in 1415 on the north coast of Marocco: inspired by the wealth of the city (which is the end of the Caravan route) and their high-quality maps he decided to organize expeditions to explore the Muslim world: he wanted to spread Christianity and also tap from Muslim wealth as well find the legendary Christian Kingdom of Prester John
- He was the head of the Order of Christ brotherhood and used their money to found the maritime school in Sagres
- Under him they discovered Madeira Island (1420). Azores (1427), were able after 14 unsuccessful voyages to finally sail pass Cape Bojador the Southwest corner of the Muslim world and its currents, Gil Earnes sailed this route in 1437
Forte de Beliche
As we continued along the coast,
we saw a lot of cars parking: we stopped and started walking down towards a
nice beach: Praia Beliche. We continued on and stopped at the Forte de Beliche:
- Super cool: In 1578 Privateer Francis Drake attacked it
- No-one knows how old it is, but it must have existed in the 16th century as it contains the coat of Arms of King Sebastio (1554-78) – they think that maybe King Manuel I built it for military purpose
- In 1960 they started to restore it for tourists, but the erosion of the cliffs made it too unstable and so it is closed
It is beautiful located on top
of the cliff and even better we have some blue sky and sunshine!!! Amazing
views to the cliffs. We found an archway and walked through to the other side
from here we have splendid view on Cape Sagres and the super gigantic waves –
some are as high as the cliffs. As well along to the Lighthouse. It is such a
beautiful place we had to sit down and watch the waves and soak in the scenery
for a bit – in the sunshine of course.
Farol do Cabo de St. Vincent
This is actually the most southwest
tip – the lighthouse at the end of the world, ok so the lighthouse is closed
but you can buy here the last Bratwurst before America!!! And no, the line up
was to long we didn’t get one.
- The lighthouse got build in 1846 and you could see the light from the oil lamp 6 miles away – today the beam is one of the strongest in Europe and they say you can see it 60 miles away
We were standing there and
looking out checking for sea monsters and were amazed by the view. We decided
to walk along the edge of the cliff for more views but after a while turned
around, as the stones where so ragged and rough you had to constantly look
where you go to not twist your ankle and we were slow and couldn’t see anything
during walking. It was amazing!!
Under the windmill
As we drove north, we saw
several windmills and a road going there: so we went to stop right underneath
one: it is amazing how noisy the wing blades are – and how gigantic the
windmills are – that was another cool little stop.
Castelo Aljezur
As it is cloudy and rainy Gine
decided we will stop at those ruins, especially since we can drive up there –
the road was not the newest but we did end up right at the castle, and as we
stop it starts to rain – really!!!! Gine said we wait a few minutes and it was
a good choice as it stopped raining, there was not much left of the castle, but
we had some amazing views on the countryside – some walls to climb on (as per
Paul a no go as it is slippery). We had a glance into the cistern which as per
Paul is not very interesting: even I think it was gigantic when you think it
was used to collect rainwater and how old it is.
- They say it was built by the Moors in the 10th century, it was conquered in 1249 and the last Arab fortress to surrender
- Once upon a time the ships could come up the river from until it silted
After we surrounded the outside,
walked up to the Portuguese flag we were ready to drive again for a bit: going
down the hill through the town which is super steep with narrow cobble stones
and then we missed a turn (no chance in turning around as it is so tight) Gine
said we should come out, but then they park cars and it is so tight we had only
inches to the cars and the wall – really!!! But we did found the way out and
back onto the “proper” road.
Praia de Odeceixe
No, it’s not warm enough for a
beach time, but we still wanted to check out this beautiful beach at the river:
at the turn off was a cute little windmill, then we stopped along a little old
canal with a cute old bridge and then headed down to the beach and found
parking: walking a bit along to enjoy the view – but then with the raindrops
coming we continued on fairly quickly….
2025-05-22