The golden period for Portugal was during the so-called "Age of Discoveries"
when Portugal was one of the greatest naval powers in the world, rivaled
only by Spain. Many famous explorers were busy discovering and mapping
new lands during the late 15th and early 16th centuries, and this monument
was built in 1960 on the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry
the Navigator whose explorations set off Portugal's Age of Discoveries.
Belem is the port from where the majority of the discoverers set sail from.
Age of Discoveries