The Monument to the Discoveries was officially unveiled in 1960 as part of the celebrations of the 500 year anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator. Along with Henry are many other important figures from Portugal's history. The monument itself is 50 metres high and has a viewing platform on the top.
The statues of 33 historical figures that adorn the two sides of the monument are made up from the following:
- Afonso V of Portugal
- Vasco da Gama (discoverer of the sea route to India)
- Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia (navigator)
- Pedro Álvares Cabral (discoverer of Brazil)
- Ferdinand Magellan (first to circumnavigate the globe)
- Nicolau Coelho (navigator)
- Gaspar Corte-Real (navigator)
- Martim Afonso de Sousa (navigator)
- João de Barros (writer)
- Estêvão da Gama (sea captain)
- Bartolomeu Dias (first to cross over the Cape of Good Hope)
- Diogo Cão (first to arrive to the Congo river)
- António de Abreu (navigator)
- Afonso de Albuquerque (second viceroy of Portuguese India)
- Saint Francis Xavier (missionary)
- Cristóvão da Gama (captain)
- Peter, Duke of Coimbra (son of King John I of Portugal)
- Queen Philippa of Lancaster
- Fernão Mendes Pinto (explorer and writer)
- Frei Gonçalo de Carvalho, O.P. (Dominican Missionary)
- Frei Henrique de Coimbra, O.F.M. (Franciscan Missionary)
- Luís de Camões (renaissance poet who celebrated the navigations in the epic Lusiads)
- Nuno Gonçalves (painter)
- Gomes Eanes de Zurara (chronicler)
- Pêro da Covilhã (traveller)
- Jácome de Maiorca (cartographer)
- Pedro Escobar (pilot)
- Pedro Nunes (mathematician)
- Pêro de Alenquer (pilot)
- Gil Eanes (navigator)
- João Gonçalves Zarco (navigator)
- Ferdinand the Holy Prince (son of King John I of Portugal)
Posted by Travel in Portugal on
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