Leaving central Lisbon I to the railway station next door and joined another glacial ticket machine queue and waited to pay my fare to visit nearby Belém, it took forever, I could have walked there in the time it took to get to the front of the line but fortunately this didn’t inconvenience me so much and I didn’t miss the next train.
I immediately liked Belém, it was a little more relaxed than Lisbon city centre. I walked first to the east for a good view of the suspension bridge and then to the west to the UNESCO listed Belém Tower and then to the real reason that I wanted to visit, The Monument to the Discoveries.
Located on the edge of the north bank of the Tagus, the fifty metre high slab of concrete, was erected in 1960 to commemorate the five hundredth anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator. The monument is sculpted in the form of a ship’s prow, with dozens of figures from Portuguese history following a statue of the Infante Henry looking out to the west perhaps contemplating another voyage of discovery.
Have Bag, Will Travel 
A great A-Z idea. I saw Henry once in 2001 when I visited a cruise company for work. Can’t remember how I got there though.
LikeLike
It is a good long walk from centre of Lisbon.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the memories I was there once great history and nice monument. Cheers
LikeLike
I knew that you would have been there!
LikeLiked by 1 person
oh yeah Portugal is visited.
LikeLike
“Dozens of figures from Portuguese history”….well,.I’m embarrassed to say that I can manage Vasco de Gama and then……..well, there’s just Eusebio and that bloke who used to manage Wolves. And that’s it. It makes me feel so ignorant, really.
Hopefully, there’s a key to who the dozens of figures are somewhere near the statue?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Eusebio was a great footballer, I recall him in the 1966 World Cup but he was strictly Portuguese, he was from Mozambique.
What about José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix!
This is a link to the poll “The Greatest Portuguese”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Os_Grandes_Portugueses
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m with you on this!
LikeLike
Ah, I only saw this through a telephoto lens!
LikeLike
What about Catherine of Braganza – Wife of Charles II and Queen of England 1662-85. It is said that she introduced the Portuguese favourite drink of tea into England. The Portuguese do make a very fine brew.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Only ever drank coffee there,!
LikeLiked by 1 person
From the River?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep
LikeLike
An excellent work
LikeLike
Thank you Derrick. The day that I went there it was 40c+. Kim couldn’t face it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Footballers: no one has mentioned Vítor Hugo Gomes Passos better known as Pelé, surely the greatest of them all. And then there is the current “we only drink water” one, Christiano Ronaldo.
LikeLike
I think that he is in bother for that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, yes this is a great monument, we looked around the maritime museum there too which was fascinating.
LikeLike
Yes, good museum.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am impressed with how well concrete was used here. I’m usually not so impressed with a concrete monument. This one is attractive and interesting. I had to check the translation of Infante Henrique and my translator doesn’t know how to handle the word. But another site told me it means Henry the Navigator.
LikeLike