Les Discoveries
by Jay Milo
Title
Les Discoveries
Artist
Jay Milo
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
The Monument The fifty meter tall monument, shaped like a ship's prow, stands at the marina in Belem, the starting point for many of Portugal's explorers. This is where in 1497 Vasco da Gama embarked on his voyage to India and in 1493 a storm forced Christopher Columbus to anchor here on his way back to Spain after his discovery of the Americas.
The monument shows more than thirty statues of people who played an important role in the discoveries. Leading the way is Henry the Navigator who is shown standing on the bow holding a model of a caravel. Behind him are king Afonso V - who supported the exploration and colonization of Africa - and the explorers Vasco da Gama (who found a direct route to India), Pedro �lvares Cabral (discoverer of Brazil) and Ferdinand Magellan (the first explorer to circumnavigate the world). They are followed by navigators, writers, missionaries, a mathematician, a map maker and other figures from the era of the discoveries.
The Monument to the Discoveries was originally built for the 1940 World Exhibition. It celebrated the achievements of explorers during the Age of Discoveries and the creation of Portugal's empire. The monument was only built as a temporary structure and it was demolished a couple of years later.
The monument we see today is an exact replica of the original one. It was was built in 1960 on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Henry the Navigator's death. Henry the Navigator was a driving force behind the overseas exploration and he financed many of the expeditions.
In the background you can see the Bridge that spans the Tagus River names the April 25th. Bridge a replica of the Golden Gatge Bridge in San Francisco. .
Uploaded
May 18th, 2014
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