Frommer's Portugal by Darwin Porter

Author:Darwin Porter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Published: 2012-02-01T16:00:00+00:00

Sagres: “The End of the World” ★

280km (174 miles) S of Lisbon; 34km (21 miles) W of Lagos; 114km (71 miles) W of Faro

At the extreme southwestern corner of Europe—once called o fim do mundo (the end of the world)—Sagres is a rocky escarpment jutting into the Atlantic Ocean. From here, Henry the Navigator, the Infante of Sagres, launched Portugal and the rest of Europe on the seas of exploration. Here he established his school of navigation, where Magellan, Diaz, Cabral, and Vasco da Gama apprenticed. A virtual ascetic, Henry brought together the best navigators, cartographers, geographers, scholars, sailors, and builders; infused them with his rigorous devotion; and methodically set Portuguese caravels upon the Sea of Darkness.

Essentials

Arriving

By Ferry & Train From Lisbon, take an Algarve-bound train to the junction at Tunes, where a change of trains will take you south all the way to Lagos. The rest of the distance is by bus (see below). For information and schedules, call 80/820-82-08 (www.cp.pt). From Lagos, buses go to Sagres.

By Bus Ten EVA buses ( 28/989-97-60; www.eva-bus.com) in Lagos run hourly from Lagos to Sagres each day. The trip time is 1 hour, and a one-way ticket costs 3.60€.

By Car From Lagos, drive west on Route 125 to Vila do Bispo, and then head south along Route 268 to Sagres.

Exploring Sagres

Both the cape and Sagres offer a view of the sunset. In the ancient world, the cape was the last explored point, although in time the Phoenicians pushed beyond it. Many mariners thought that when the sun sank beyond the cape, it plunged over the edge of the world.

Today, at the reconstructed site of Henry’s windswept fortress on Europe’s Land’s End (named after the narrowing westernmost tip of Cornwall, England), you can see a huge stone compass dial. Henry supposedly used the Venta de Rosa in his naval studies at Sagres. Housed in the Fortaleza de Sagres, Ponta de Sagres, is a small museum of minor interest that documents some of the area’s history. It’s open May to September daily 9:30am to 8pm, October to April 9:30am to 5:30pm. Admission is 3€ for adults, 1.50€ for ages 15 to 25, and free for children 14 and under. At a simple chapel, restored in 1960, sailors are said to have prayed for help before setting out into uncharted waters. The chapel is closed to the public.

About 5km (3 miles) away is the promontory of Cabo de São Vicente ★★. It got its name because, according to legend, the body of St. Vincent arrived mysteriously here on a boat guided by ravens. (Others claim that the body of the patron saint, murdered at Valencia, Spain, washed up on Lisbon’s shore.) A lighthouse, the second most powerful in Europe, beams illumination 100km (62 miles) across the ocean. To reach the cape, you can take a bus Monday through Friday only leaving from Rua Comandante Matoso near the tourist office. Trip time is 10 minutes, and departures are at 11:15am and 2:25pm, a one-way ticket costs 2€.

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