Cabo de São Vicente

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The Cabo de São Vicente (pron. IPA: ['kabu dɨ sɐ̃ũ vi'sẽt(ɨ)]; English: Cape of St. Vincent), next to the Ponta de Sagres (pron. IPA: ['põtɐ dɨ 'sagɾɨʃ]; English: Sagres Point), on the so called Costa Vicentina (Vincentine Coast), is a cape in Sagres, on the Algarve in Southern Portugal.

This cape is the southwesternmost point of Europe and is a landmark for any ship travelling to or from the Mediterannean. The cliffs rise sheer from the Atlantic to a height of 75 m. The cape is approximately six kilometers from the village of Sagres itself.

This was already sacred ground in Neolithic times, as standing menhirs in the neighbourhood still attest. The Ancient Greeks called it Ophiussa (Land of Serpents), inhabited by the Oestriminis and dedicated here a temple to Heracles. The Romans called it Promontorium Sacrum (or Holy Promontory). They considered it a magical place where the sunset was much larger than anywhere else. They believed the sun sank here hissing into the ocean, marking the end of their world.

Image:Sagres14.jpg

The name of this cape is linked to the story of a fourth-century martyred Spanish priest St. Vincent whose body was brought ashore on this sacred ground. A shrine was erected over his grave, always guarded by ravens, as reported by the Arab geographer Al-Idrisi. When the Moors invaded Portugal, king Afonso Henriques (1139 - 85) had the body of the saint exhumed in 1173 and brought by ship to Lisbon, still accompanied by the ravens.

The cape was vandalized by pirates from France and Holland and even in 1587 by sir Francis Drake. All existing buildings, including the Vila do Infante of Henry the Navigator fell into ruins by the Great Earthquake of 1755. The Franciscan monks stayed on until 1834, when all monasteries were disbanded in Portugal.
Several naval battles were fought in the neighbourhood of this cape :

The French Admiral Anne Hilarion de Tourville defeated a convoy of 59 English ships commanded by Sir George Rooke on 27 June 1693.
In 1780 this cape was the site of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent (between Britain and Spain).
Admiral Jervis with Nelson defeated the Spanish fleet in 1797 at the Battle of Cape St Vincent (1797)

The present lighthouse was built over the ruins of a 16th century Franciscan convent in 1846. The statues of St. Vincent and St. Francis had been moved to the nearby church of Nossa Senhora da Graça on the Ponta de Sagres. This lighthouse is the second most powerful lighthouse in Europe and its two 1,000 watt lamps can be seen as far as 60 km away, guarding one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

The cape forms the southwestern end of the E9 European Coastal Path, which runs for 5000 km (3125 miles) to Narva-Jõesuu in Estonia.

The cape is a site of an exuberant marine life and a high concentration of birds nesting on the cliffs, such as the rare Bonelli's Eagle, Peregrine Falcons, kites, Rock thrushes, Rock Pigeons, storks and herons.

[edit] References

The Rough Guide to Portugal - 11th ed., March 2005; ISBN 1-84353-438-X
Rentes de carvalho J. - Portugal, um guia para amigos (in Dutch translation : Portugal); de Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam; 9th ed., August 1999; ISBN 90-295-3466-4