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The fortress of Sagres was once one of the most important places.
Built
in the 15th century, it was at least as important during the Age of
Discovery as the US Cape Canaveral was during the early years of space
exploration.
Pounded by huge Atlantic breakers, with wind-swept cliffs facing the
sea on three sides, Cape St Vincent at the western tip of the Algarve
seems like the very edge of Europe.
Indeed, it was known as "O Fim Do Mundo", the end of the world by
the ancient explorers who passed this way on their voyages of discovery.
Fantastic is the only word to describe this barren, throne-like
headland, which was the last sight of home for the nervous Portuguese
sailors as they headed out into the unknown sea.
 
The location of Cape St Vincent, the most south-westerly point in
Europe, surely figured in Prince Henry the Navigator's choice for a
new, fortified town which was established close by at the Ponta de
Sagres promontory.
Sagres became the headquarters for Henry's semi-monastic School of
Navigation, which specialised in cartography, astronomy and ship design.
The school was like a magnet to the best brains in Europe concerned
with the nautical sciences. Under Henry's patronage, a community of
brilliant scholars came here to teach, study, accumulate and correlate
nautical knowledge as it was brought back by captains of successive
voyages who had journeyed to previously unknown territories.
Many other famous mariners and explorers have also passed this way,
including Christopher Columbus, Lord Nelson and Sir Francis Drake, who
in the course of harassing supply lines to the Spanish Armada, captured
and wrecked the fortifications around Sagres.
Today, the village has grown from a single street to a cliff top
sprawl of houses and shops, as well as several good restaurants. It is
a busy fishing port and a popular venue for Algarve anglers.
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