Padrão dos Descobrimentos Audio Guides

Padrão dos Descobrimentos stands on Lisbon’s Belém waterfront, close to Algés, where Portugal’s Atlantic voyages became part of the country’s national story. A temporary version was erected for the 1940 Portuguese World Exhibition; the permanent monument followed in 1960, marking 500 years since the death of Prince Henry the Navigator. Shaped like a ship’s prow, it places Henry at the front of a procession of navigators, cartographers, and other figures associated with Portuguese maritime expansion. At its feet, a large compass rose and world map invite visitors to trace historic routes. Today, the monument is both an emblem of Portuguese exploration and a place to reflect on the colonial consequences of those voyages.