{"id":3662,"date":"2015-07-19T20:04:43","date_gmt":"2015-07-19T20:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lisbonstopover.com\/?p=3662"},"modified":"2015-07-19T20:05:27","modified_gmt":"2015-07-19T20:05:27","slug":"monument-to-the-discoveries-padrao-dos-descobrimentos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lisbonstopover.com\/?p=3662","title":{"rendered":"Monument to the Discoveries, Padr\u00e3o dos Descobrimentos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Padr\u00e3o dos Descobrimentos,\u00a0Monument to the Discoveries is a monument on the northern bank of the Tagus River estuary, in the civil parish of Santa Maria de Bel\u00e9m, Lisbon. Located along the river where ships departed to explore and trade with India and Orient, the monument celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery (or Age of Exploration) during the 15th and 16th centuries.<\/p>\n

The structure is located on the northern bank of the Tagus River, limited by the Bel\u00e9m Marina, Alg\u00e9s and Dafundo Nautical Centre and the Museum of Popular Art (Portuguese: Museu de Arte Popular), and demarcated by stone pedestals with armillary spheres. Opposite the large square, and across the Avenida de \u00cdndia-Avenida de Bras\u00edlia motorway, is the Pra\u00e7a do Imp\u00e9rio which fronts the Jer\u00f3nimos Monastery, Bel\u00e9m Cultural Center and the green-spaces of the Jardim Vasca do Gama.<\/p>\n

The original structure, which Telmo, Barros and Almeida created, was erected in steel and cement, while the 33 statues was produced in a composite of plaster and tow. Ostensibly a 52-metre-high (171 ft) slab standing vertically along the bank of the Tagus, the design takes the form of the prow of a caravel (ship used in the early Portuguese exploration). On either side of the slab are ramps that join at the river’s edge, with the figure of Henry the Navigator on its edge. On either side of the Infante, along the ramp, are 16 figures (33 in total) representing figures from the Portuguese Age of Discovery. These great people of the era included monarchs, explorers, cartographers, artists, scientists and missionaries. Each idealized figure is designed to show movement towards the front (the unknown sea), projecting a direct or indirect synthesis of their participation in the events after Henry.<\/p>\n

The South African government was responsible for gifting the construction of the square in front of the monument: the 50-metre-diameter (160 ft) Rosa-dos-Ventos (compass rose) was executed using different types of limestone, including lioz, a rare type of beige limestone found only around Lisbon, more specifically in Sintra. Designed by the architect Cristino da Silva, it includes a Mappa mundi that is 14 metres wide, showing the routes of Portuguese carracks and caravels during the Age of Discovery.<\/p>\n

On the northern fa\u00e7ade flanking the staircase are two inscriptions in metal: on the left, “AO INFANTE D. HENRIQVE E AOS PORTVGVESES QVE DESCOBRIRAM OS CAMINHOS DO MAR” (To Prince Henry and the Portuguese that Discovered the Roads of the Sea) over a metal anchor; and, on the right, the words “NO V CENTEN\u00c1RIO DO INFANTE D. HENRIQVE 1460 \u2013 1960” (On the Fifth centenary of Prince Henry 1460\u20131960), over a crown of laurel. The double staircase ascends one level, before the entranceway to the monument, allowing a perspective on the square and the lateral figures.<\/p>\n

\"compass<\/a><\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/span>compass rose\u00a0and<\/span>mappa mundi, a gift from the Republic of South Africa and created from beige, black and red limestone<\/span><\/p>\n

The interior consists of three areas: the auditorium with space for 101 people, a stage of 18 square metres (190 sq ft), with film projection booth; a secondary level with two halls for exhibition; and the last level with four rooms. Normally, the auditorium hosts a multimedia exhibition on the history of Lisbon, while the other rooms are used for exhibitions. The top of the monument (reached via an elevator or stairs) offers views of the Tagus river, the Bel\u00e9m neighbourhood and its many attractions, including the Bel\u00e9m Tower and the Jer\u00f3nimos Monastery, which date from the Age of Discovery.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Eastern profile<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Padr\u00e3o_Descobrimentos_labels_(eastern_side)\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Afonso V of Portugal
\nVasco da Gama (discoverer of the sea route to India)
\nAfonso Gon\u00e7alves Baldaia (navigator)
\nPedro \u00c1lvares Cabral (discoverer of Brazil)
\nFerdinand Magellan (first to circumnavigate the globe)
\nNicolau Coelho (navigator)
\nGaspar Corte-Real (navigator)
\nMartim Afonso de Sousa (navigator)
\nJo\u00e3o de Barros (writer)
\nEst\u00eav\u00e3o da Gama (sea captain)
\nBartolomeu Dias (first to cross over the Cape of Good Hope)
\nDiogo C\u00e3o (first to arrive to the Congo river)
\nAnt\u00f3nio de Abreu (navigator)
\nAfonso de Albuquerque (second viceroy of Portuguese India)
\nSaint Francis Xavier (missionary)
\nCrist\u00f3v\u00e3o da Gama (captain)<\/p>\n

Western profile<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Padr\u00e3o_Descobrimentos_labels_(Western_side)\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Peter, Duke of Coimbra (son of King John I of Portugal)
\nQueen Philippa of Lancaster
\nFern\u00e3o Mendes Pinto (explorer and writer)
\nGon\u00e7alo de Carvalho (missionary Dominican)
\nHenrique de Coimbra (missionary franciscan)
\nLu\u00eds de Cam\u00f5es (renaissance poet who celebrated the navigations in the epic Lusiads)
\nNuno Gon\u00e7alves (painter)
\nGomes Eanes de Zurara (chronicler)
\nP\u00earo da Covilh\u00e3 (traveller)
\nJ\u00e1come de Maiorca (cartographer)
\nPedro Escobar (pilot)
\nPedro Nunes (mathematician)
\nP\u00earo de Alenquer (pilot)
\nGil Eanes (navigator)
\nJo\u00e3o Gon\u00e7alves Zarco (navigator)
\nFerdinand the Holy Prince (son of King John I of Portugal)<\/p>\n

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Padr\u00e3o dos Descobrimentos,\u00a0Monument to the Discoveries is a monument on the northern bank of the Tagus River estuary, in the civil parish of Santa Maria de Bel\u00e9m, Lisbon. Located along the river where ships departed to explore and trade with India and Orient, the monument celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery (or Age of Exploration) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3669,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lisbonstopover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3662"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lisbonstopover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lisbonstopover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lisbonstopover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lisbonstopover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3662"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lisbonstopover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3668,"href":"https:\/\/www.lisbonstopover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3662\/revisions\/3668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lisbonstopover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lisbonstopover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lisbonstopover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lisbonstopover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}