Pete Martin ¦ Transformational Journeys

I walk down to the Tagus. It’s as wide as the River Mersey is here near the mouth. I pass the large gothic facade of the Jerónimos Monestry in the centre of Belém. Riverside are the Torre de Belém (Belem Tower) and the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries). The fortified tower was originally built during the sixteenth century in the middle of the river as part of its defence and also to act as a ceremonial gateway into Lisbon. The Monument to the Discoveries was built in 1960 to commemorate the five hundredth anniversary of Henry the Navigator. Either side of the monument has sculptures of figures from Portugal’s Age of Discoveries, including Henry the Navigator, the prime mover of Portuguese exploration during that time, Vasco da Gama, the discoverer of the sea route to India, and Ferdinand Magellan, who like me circumnavigated the world, only he was the first.