Sagres tourist attractions
Today we’ll take a bit of time to talk about the main Sagres tourist attractions, this not so very well-known of Algarve towns has some interesting places to visit that you may not be aware of, because it isn’t well known on the tourist guides.
The town is located at just five kilometers from Cabo de Sao Vicente and is has the distinction of being the country’s most southwesterly point, and implicitly Europe’s as well. This is and has been a place of particular meaning for both the Portuguese as well as others. It is said that this is where Henry the Navigator founded his school of seamanship during the 15th century which assembled Portugal’s major geographers, cartographers and astronomers to put their heads together. However there aren’t very many signs left that would suggest this was anything physical or stable, more likely this was a place where the various experts would meet on various occasions, without a proper purpose.
Sagres lies on a very rocky plateau which ends rather abruptly at the coast in the shape of steep cliffs of up to 150 meters in height.
Tourism hasn’t yet gotten such a solid foothold in Sagres – event though you will surely find hotels and private guest houses both in and around the town – but it is nowhere near comparable with the tourist infrastructure in the resorts further east on the coast. This might be due both to the town’s extreme location, as well as its very raw climate, but there are many out there who love that.
Fortaleza de Sagres
This fortress is located on a narrow promontory that reaches out into the sea, the spot having been important to the Romans who called it Promontorium Sacrum – or the Sacred Promontory because they thought it to be the home of the gods. The fortress that you’ll see today is still a major focal point in the history of Portuguese discovery and conquest of the 15th and 16th centuries.
The fortress features a few other related attractions such as the Windrose, the Igreja Matriz de Sao Clemente and there’s also a Visitor Center.
But the main Sagres tourist attraction that people come here for, is the very raw nature, and what better way to experience everything that this place has to offer than with the help of some Algarve car rental services.
