Monument to the Discoveries

This towering monument along the Tagus wasn't meant to lastIn 1940, architect José Ângelo Cottinelli Telmo and sculptor Leopoldo de Almeida created it from plaster and wood for a World Exhibition meant to glorify Portugal's past under Salazar's dictatorship. It was supposed to be torn down afterward. Twenty years later, the temporary structure was rebuilt in stone.

In 1960, Portugal commemorated the 500th anniversary of Prince Henry the Navigator's death by reconstructing the monument in rose-tinted limestone from Leiria and Sintra. The Padrão dos Descobrimentos—which means "Monument to the Discoveries"—became permanent, standing 52 meters tall. The structure resembles a caravel ship about to sail into the Atlantic.

At the prow stands Prince Henry, holding a small model ship. Behind him march 32 figures: explorers like Vasco da Gama and Magellan, cartographers, kings, missionaries, and poets. Only one is a woman—Queen Felipa of Lancaster, Henry's mother. At the monument's base lies a 50-meter marble compass rose, gifted by South Africa. The map at its center charts the routes Portuguese ships took during the 15th and 16th centuries, reaching Africa, Asia, and Brazil.