Age of Discovery Begins

This very spot was once the launching point for ships that would change the world forever. In 1419, from this harbor, Portuguese captains began methodical expeditions into waters most Europeans believed were the edge of existence, starting what history calls the Age of Discovery. Prince Henry, third son of King João I, orchestrated this transformation without ever sailing himself.

From his base in southern Portugal, he funded expedition after expedition between 1419 and 1460, sending captains in newly designed caravels. These light, maneuverable ships with triangular sails borrowed from Arab fishing boats could sail against the wind, something previous European vessels could not do. The breakthroughs came steadily. The Madeira Islands in 1419. The Azores around 1427.

Then in 1434, Gil Eanes accomplished what terrified sailors had deemed impossible: he sailed past Cape Bojador, the point they called the world's end, and returned alive. By 1460, Portuguese ships had charted Africa's coast to Sierra Leone. The momentum built. Bartolomeu Dias rounded Africa's southern tip in 1488. Vasco da Gama opened the sea route to India in 1498, breaking the centuries long monopoly on Eastern trade and bringing spices directly to this very waterfront.