The mission of Sagres Promontory is to provide its visitors with a unique experience, enabling them to view all the different aspects of the Monument within an educational framework of the history associated with Sagres Fortress. To fulfil this mission, Sagres Promontory will firstly act as a public service and ensure that activities and initiatives are implemented that focus on cultural, social, educational and pedagogical aspects; and secondly, it will be managed in a way that concentrates on carrying out promotional and operational activities focusing on its sustainability.

The main objective of the Algarve Regional Directorate of Culture for Sagres Promontory is to develop its educational role in giving its visitors a thorough understanding of the History of Portugal and the world.

O conteúdo Vision, Mission, Objectives aparece primeiro em Promontório de Sagres.

O conteúdo Legislation aparece primeiro em Promontório de Sagres.

Fortress Tour

Tour of the bailey (courtyard), walls and bastions providing an understanding of the geographical, historical and functional setting of the Fortress, and showing how the building developed.

Duration: 1 hour

Sagres, myth and reality

Thematic visit from the mythical/mystical, magical/religious and symbolic points of view, drawing on local legends and the work of a number of Portuguese writers.

Duration: 1 hour

Guided visit for the 9th year of Basic Education and Secondary School.

In Search of the Promontory

Thematic visit to Sagres Promontory, focusing on topics connected with the history of the Promontorium Sacrum.

Duration: 2 hours

Guided visit for 3rd cycle schools, secondary schools and adults.

Pedagogical Activities

A Day in the Fortress

Relive different scenes from everyday life in the Middle Ages relating to Sagres Fortress, involving soldiers, priests, fishermen and sailors.

Duration: 1 hour

Guided visit for kindergartens, free-time activity groups (ATL) and groups of children aged 3 to 6.

Let’s build the Fortress

Understanding the geographical situation and the physical shape of the Promontory, and the size of the building. The importance of studying heritage. It has a dramatic thread based on the annual migrations of a goose – called Patolas.

Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Guided visit for the 1st cycle, free-time activity groups (ATL) and groups of children aged 6 to 10.

The wheel of time

Drawing on the mystery/secret symbolised by the “wind rose”, our youngsters will rotate a wheel that will take them on a journey in time, guided by the cardinal and intercardinal points on the feature.

Duration: 1 hour / 1 hour and 30 minutes

Guided visit for the 1st cycle, free-time activity groups (ATL) and groups of children aged 6 to 12.

Discovering the Fortress

Treasure hunt, which aims to help youngsters to discover the architectural features of the Fortress.

Duration: 1 hour

Guided visit for the 2nd and 3rd cycles, free-time activity groups (ATL) and groups of children aged 10 to 15.

Mysteries of the Fortress

Games of clues/puzzles to discover lost documents from earlier eras.

Duration – Game 1: 45 min.
Game 2: 60 min.

Guided visit for 1st, 2nd and 3rd cycle schools, free-time activity groups (ATL) and groups of children aged 6 to 15.

New tastes and smells

With the Discoveries and the Portuguese expansion from the 15th century onwards, the movement of plants between continents was the start of the globalisation of foodstuffs, the introduction of new flavours, smells and processes that changed people’s eating habits, leading to changes in gastronomy.

Duration: 1 hour

Guided visit for pupils of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd cycles of basic education, free-time activity groups (ATL) and groups of children aged 6 to 15.

A day with games

Tournament with a number of traditional games providing a setting for experiencing recreational activities of a traditional and popular nature, such as the tug-of-war, tiddlywinks, and “jogo da malha” (similar to quoits).

Duration: 1 hour / 1 hour and 30 minutes

O conteúdo Educational Service aparece primeiro em Promontório de Sagres.

The Project for Upgrading and Developing Sagres Promontory is currently under way. This is an upgrading operation involving heritage and environmental aspects of this site, which aims to take advantage of its varied potential and transform it into a cultural landmark, and thereby make a significant contribution to expanding the range of cultural and leisure facilities in the Algarve region.

For this reason, certain facilities are temporarily closed, namely the Exhibition Centre and the Cafeteria.

Exhibition Project

The content of the Exhibition Centre is currently being installed; this will enable the site to be interpreted appropriately in its relationship to the Portuguese Discoveries and the figure of Prince Henry the Navigator.

In addition to the space for this long-term exhibition, a space for temporary exhibitions has also been conceived. The aim is to foster an attitude of discovery and enquiry in visitors, both through more historical content and through a contemporary perspective, thus providing new viewpoints on the Portuguese and their history, in particular since the Discoveries.

Venues Available

Sagres Fortress has a number of different venues, in particular a 50-seat auditorium, a multipurpose room, and outdoor spaces both within and outside the walls. These venues can be used by outside organisations for cultural or other activities, provided they are compatible with the nature of the monument, in accordance with the price list in force.

Access

Sagres Promontory has an outdoor car park for cars and coaches.

We are keen to improve the visiting conditions for people with reduced mobility and considerable improvements have been and will continue to be made, in particular to access to the different buildings. Visitors can thus use an accessible walkway along the promontory – some two kilometres in length – which makes it easier for people to walk and use wheelchairs. A tactile model of Sagres Promontory has also been installed to help blind and partially sighted visitors to gain a better understanding of the site.

O conteúdo Services aparece primeiro em Promontório de Sagres.

• Fortress and traces of Prince Henry’s wall
• Mariner’s Compass and Sundial in Fortified Turret
• Today’s Fortification
• Marker Stone and Prince Henry
• Church of Our Lady of Grace
• St. Vicent and the Cape’s ancient cults
• The Natural Heritage
• Sagres as a strategic point
• “The voice of the sea”

We invite you to obtain the correct version for your system:

O conteúdo iBeacons aparece primeiro em Promontório de Sagres.

• Drawbridge
• Curtain Wall and Gateway to the Fort
• Central Fortified Turret
• Bastion of Saint Barbara
• Bastion of St. Anthony
• Mariner’s Compass
• Sagres Marker Stone
• Cistern Tower
• Church of our Lady of Grace
• Ruins of Prince Henry’s Wall, Bastion and Caserns
• Sentry Box
• Battery
• Auditorium
• Powder Magazine
• Flora of the Vicentine Promontory

Flora of the Vicentine Promontory

Ponta de Sagres represents a unique aspect of the exceptional botanical diversity of the Natural Park of Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vicentina. This location is host to plants of Atlantic, Mediterranean, and North African origins. The unique conditions of the soil and climate encountered in the Vicentine Promontory has given rise to several plants that only exist in the Algarve, some of which can only be found in Sagres.

Auditorium

This former ammunition and supplies storehouse was recuperated in 1793 and kept its functions as an artillery depot. In 1840 it was used as a stable. During reconstruction and restoration works carried out in 1959/60, it was converted into an auditorium and additions were made to the original building.

Powder Magazine

Referred to since the mid-18th century. The ruins were consolidated during restoration works carried out during the 5th and 6th decades of the 20th century.

Battery

Strategic position prepared to install artillery. It defended and kept watch over coastline and access to Mareta beach.

Sentry Box

To shelter sentinels. These structures were located at the forward angles of the fortification or at points that gave a clear view of the surrounding area.

Ruins of Prince Henry’s Wall, Bastion and Caserns

The first bastions of the Sagres fortress were built by order of King D. Sebastião in 1573. They are represented in the drawing done during the attack lead by Francis Drake in 1587. From the original wall built by order of Prince Henry, the Navigator, one can only see small parts of it, because the stone was reused in the renovation of the bastioned wall. However, there are ruins of the caserns represented on the plans from the 17th and 18th centuries and of the old stone paved road.

Church of our Lady of Grace

This building replaced, around 1570, the original church of St. Mary built by order of Prince Henry, the Navigator in 1459. Damaged by the earthquake of 1755, various renovations were carried out and some changes were made; to the nave and the chancel were added the sacristy and the bell tower, which envelops the old charnel house of the Sagres cemetery.

Cistern Tower

Probably constructed at the time of Prince Henry, the Navigator (between 1443 and 1460). It is frequently represented on charts, plans and drawings of the Fortress of Sagres as from 1587.

Sagres Marker Stone

Replica of the marker stone (Padrão) used by the Portuguese navigators in the 15th century to mark newly discovered territories. It displays the coat-of-arms of Prince Henry, the Navigator.

1 – Label
2 – Points
3 – Bordure
4 – Bezant
5 – Escutcheon
6 – Fleur-de-lys

Mariner’s Compass

Built with 48 stone tiers, disposed radially on a 50m diameter round yard, this enigmatic structure was unearthed in 1919 and, thence interpreted as a «mariner’s compass», related with the seafaring school allegedly founded here by prince Henry, the Navigator; it was cleaned and consolidated in 1959. Another theory presents this construction as a monumental gnomon, a sundial built in the 16th century for study purposes and to support naval and military activities that occurred on this site.

Bastion of St. Anthony

It was built to replace an unfinished bastion from the reign of King João IV (1640 – 1656). It was dedicated to St. Anthony, one of the Portuguese Army’s patrons and patron saint of the 2nd Lagos Infantry Regiment by letters patent of Afonso VI (1668). Its defensive purposes were accomplished by crossing the fire shot from its batteries with those placed on St. Barbara bastion.

Bastion of Saint Barbara

Dedicated to St. Barbara, patron saint of artillerymen, it replaced an unfinished bastion begun in the reign of D. João IV (1640-1656). Its defensive purposes were accomplished by crossing the fire shot from its batteries with those placed on St. Anthony bastion.

Central Fortified Turret

Reconstructed in 1793 by José de Sande Vasconcelos, colonel of engineers. It substituted the entrance turret erected in the reign of Philip II (1581-1589), on the barbican walls dating from the time of Prince Henry, as shown in the drawing done during the attack by Francis Drake in 1587. It defended the main entrance to the Fortress, articulating the fire power of its batteries with that from the flanking bastions.

Curtain Wall and Gateway to the Fort

This curtain wall, adapted to install defence artillery, substituted the primitive 15th century fortification. The neo-classic Square Door’s pediment bears a coat-of-arms and an inscription dated 1793, that reads the name of the Algarve Kingdom’s Governor and Captain-General, at that time, Dom Nuno José Fulgêncio João Nepomuceno de Mendonça e Moura.

Drawbridge

A mechanical device was placed here to raise the chained drawbridge from inside the fort. The bridge is represented on the plans of the Fortress of Sagres as from the mid-18th century. Its purpose was to allow the access to the fortress over the moat that preceded the wall in front of the Square Door.

O conteúdo Interactive Map aparece primeiro em Promontório de Sagres.

Follow the A22 – Via do Infante as far as Lagos, then leave the motorway at the exit Lagos/Vila do Bispo. Follow the EN 125 as far as Vila do Bispo and then the EN268 to Sagres.

There is access in the monument for people with reduced mobility to the historical tour, the promontory and the exhibition centre.

There is a car park for cars and coaches.

Public transport: bus, interurban route Lagos – Sagres – Lagos.

Further information at: Eva Transportes – Carreiras Interurbanas

O conteúdo How to get there aparece primeiro em Promontório de Sagres.

Free admission

• In Sundays and Public Holidays until 14:00 for all residents in the national territory. A donation ticket may still be purchased if you wish to make a donation of any value; *
• Children up to the age of 12; *
• Residents in the municipality; *
• Members of APOM/ICOM and ICOMOS; *
• Researchers, conservators, restorers, museum and/or heritage professionals as part of their work; *
• Teachers and students at any level of education as part of study visits that have been booked in advance; *
• Groups from the IPSS or local authorities’ Social Action and Institutions of Public Interest, with prior authorization by the DRCAlgarve; *
• Journalists on duty, communicated in advance; *
• Institutional patrons of the monuments in question; *
• Members of the Associação dos Amigos dos Monumentos (Association of Friends of Monuments) and the Associação dos Amigos dos Castelos (Association of Friends of Castles); *
• Unemployed citizens, resident in EU member countries; *
• As part of the “Culture for All” iniciative, free access will be granted to youths celebrating theirs 18th birthday in the year of the visit. Proof of portuguese residency required.

(1) Exemptions and discounts will apply if documentary evidence is provided
(2) Tour tickets with 20% discount (Agreements with outside organisations)
(3) Tour tickets with 50% discount (Over 65s, Cartão Jovem (Youth Card), Student Card, Disabled persons, Family Ticket, Large Family Ticket)

Accepted payment methods: Cash, Debit Cards, Credit Cards, check.

O conteúdo Prices aparece primeiro em Promontório de Sagres.

May to September — from 09:30 to 20:00

October to April — from 09:30 to 17:30

Note: last admission 30 minutes before closing time

Opening times to fishermen

8:00h until closing time.

Closed

Public holidays on 1st January, 22nd January (municipal holiday), Easter Sunday, 1st May and 25th December.

O conteúdo Schedules aparece primeiro em Promontório de Sagres.

The Ponta de Sagres, where the fortress stands, consists of an imposing, compact limestone platform dating from the Jurassic period that sweeps down to the sea in vertical, rocky cliffs some 40 metres high. On the plateau, which is slightly uneven, the calcareous stone has been eroded by rainwater to create a tracery of cavities and crevices filled with red clay, the result of water gradually wearing down the rock. The soils, however, are very mixed and, sometimes, are even covered by sand from old Quaternary dunes.

The climate here as on all the Vincentine headland is dry Mediterranean in type, although tempered by the surrounding Atlantic. Winters are mild, the average minimum temperature in the coldest months being 10.7°C, and summers are cool due to constant winds from the North. The average annual rainfall does not exceed 438 l/m2, with six dry months.The stiff breeze diminishes the effect of the high atmospheric humidity, accentuating the semi-arid appearance during the summer period.

The soil and climate are nor the only conditioning factors as regards the local vegetation. The presence of Man down through the centuries and the almost insular isolation of the promontory, reinforced by the wall of the fortress, are determining factors in the actual vegetal landscape.

This can be seen, for example, by the lack of the juniper formations (Juniperus turbinata), a characteristic of the Vincentine Coast, that were marked on an 18th century map. It seems reasonable to assume that, during the time the fortress was occupied, bushes were used as fuel and possible successive, systematic burning contributed to reducing the vegetation to the sub-shrub and herbaceous communities that exist today.

Despite the fact that the fortress no longer has a military purpose, human pressure has been maintained by tourism and angling, which has resulted in considerable trampling along the edge of the cliffs.

Due to this anthropogenic pressure, the influence of the wind and salt, as well as the type of soil, it is possible to define four main ecological sectors with definite floral groupings, small units where specific types of plants tend to occur together.

The first sector (A), is characterised by soil altered by the depositing of rubbish and organic matter, which covers an area surrounding the constructions where Man has introduced the proliferating Hottentot fig (Carpobrotus edulis), to the detriment of the local flora.

Here nitrophilous plants utilise the high degree of salt in this disturbed terrain: as is the case of the Lavatera spp. or the showy round-headed garlic (Allium ampeloprasum), and also the tree purslane (Atriplex halimus) and a wormleaf saltwort (Salsola vermiculata) that typically border the cliffs.

In the second sector (B), which is made up of the cliffs, the strong wind laden with salt, and the scarcity of soil drastically condition the vegetation. The rock samphire (Crithmum maritimum) and a sea lavender (Limonium ovalifolium) spring up in the cracks in the bare rock.

Lavatera mauritanica, an annual with superb purple flowers, unfortunately, now considered vulnerable also occurs at the top of the cliffs. Small grassy plots are formed in the openings in the rocks and produce plants of considerable ecological interest as they have adapted to the very high degree of salinity in the soil and to trampling, as for example the carpeted sea heath (Frankenia laevis) that has small lilac coloured flowers.

On the plateau, but quite frequently stretching to the edge of the cliffs, on limestone soils with a clayey-sandy texture, the third sector (C) is the most valuable of all, when the diversity and endemic degree of this particular flora is borne in mind.

The heads of the yellow sea aster (Asteriscus maritimus) dominate these cushioned sub-shrub formations. Also characteristic of this sector is the spiny tragacanth (Astragalus tragacantha ssp. vicentinus) that is endemic ro the Vincentine Promontory, but very localised and threatened with extinction.

These are accompanied by a downy, greyish felty germander (Teucrium vincentinum) and, in spots more sheltered from the spray, by the thyme (Thymus camphoratus) with its reddish purple blossoms, endemic to southwestern Portugal. Also of note is a small group of bellevalsas (Bellevalia hackelli), a Portuguese endemism, the distribution area of which only very rarely extends beyond the Algarve limestone zone, as well as the autumn flowering of a beautiful wild crocus (Crocus serotinus).

In the fourth sector (D), movable sand fills the crevices in the gryke, only permitting the installation of flora characteristic of coastal dunes of the southwestern Iberian Peninsula. Outstanding in this almost desert like landscape is the sea daffodil (Pancratium maritimum), a bulb which flowers in the summer, though its greyish green leaves are visible the rest of the year.

The pink heads of the spiny thrift (Armeria pungens) nod in the wind, the bright yellow of the southern birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus creticus), as well as the deep blue of the shrubby pimpernel (Anagallis monelli) bring a touch of springtime cheer to this aridity. Curiously, also found here, although somewhat sparse, is the Corema album endemic to the western Iberian coast, indicating more evolved dune vegetation.

O conteúdo Flora aparece primeiro em Promontório de Sagres.