Cabo de São Vicente

Cape St. Vincent represents the most southwesterly point of land on the European continent.

Henry the Navigator built his school for ocean explorers here for a variety of reasons, including the fact that its location at the edge of the known world in the 15th century. The Romans called the cape Promontorium Sanctum, or ‘sacred spot’, because the sun disappeared from their view into the ocean just beyond the point at the end of each day.

Cape St. Vincent was also known for centuries as a Christian shrine to the saint for whom it was named. The martyr’s relics were buried here, and it was believed that he blessed the passing ships from his throne sitting upon one of the majestic sea stacks along the beach. When his bones first arrived from Valencia, two ravens accompanied them. The birds supposedly returned when they were moved to Lisbon in 1173. The city crest of Cabo de São Vicente includes the ravens as a way of showing solidarity to the patron saint.

The coastline here features many cliffs, some nearly 200 feet high. The lighthouse at the point is both picturesque and brilliant – its beam is so strong that it can be seen 60 miles away from the Algarve shoreline. Visitors can enter the lighthouse at the preference of its keeper to marvel at the striking contrast of the turquoise water against the red cliffs below. The immensity of the Atlantic and the Sagres fortress in the east complete the landscape.