Padrão do
Descobrimentos ( “The Monument to the Discoveries”) is a monument on the
northern bank of the Tagus River estuary in Lisbon, Portugal. The monument is
located along the river where ships departed to explore and trade with India
and Orient during the Portuguese Age of Discovery (or Age of Exploration)
during the 15th and 16th centuries. The
monument stands alone in a striking position evoking this overseas expansion, recalling
the country’s glorious past and symbolising the enormity of the work carried
out by the Infante (Henry the Navigator), the driving force behind the
Discoveries.The monument was first erected in 1940, in a temporary form, as part of the Portuguese World Exhibition. Built with perishable materials, it had a light iron and cement frame, while the moulded sculpture was made of gypsum. The monument was reconstructed in 1960 to mark 500 years since the death of the Infante Dom Henrique (Henry the Navigator). This time it was made of concrete and rose-tinted Leiria stone masonry, with the sculptures made of Sintra limestone masonry.
The monument looks like a stylised caravel setting out to sea, with Henry the Navigator in its prow. He is holding a model of a carrack. On the two lateral ramps ascending to the symbolic figure of the Infante are some of the major figures of the Portuguese overseas expansion and cultural figures from the age of the Discoveries, 32 in total, all portrayed with symbols that allude to their identity: navigators, cartographers, warriors, colonisers, missionaries, chroniclers and artists.
The north side is formed by two giant stones which bear inscriptions in metallic letters. On the left side, the inscription above an anchor reads ‘TO THE INFANTE DOM HENRIQUE AND THE PORTUGUESE WHO DISCOVERED THE SEA ROUTES’. On the other side, the inscription above a laurel wreath reads, ‘ON THE V CENTENARY OF THE INFANTE DOM HENRIQUE 1460–1960′.
The monument is
flanked by two metal armillary spheres on two parallelepiped platforms.Dimensions:
Height – 56m; Width
– 20m; Length – 46m; Foundations – 20m
Central figure
(Infante) – 9m; Figures on the sides (32) – 7m
We saw this monument on Sep19-2013 on our Spain / Portugal tour.
This postcard was
sent by Alma1 (Ama) Postcrossing (30 January 2014)
