Sagres (Vila do Bispo)
Sagres is a civil parish in the municipality of Vila do Bispo, in the southern Algarve of Portugal. It has 1,894 inhabitants in an area of. It is historically connected to the early Portuguese Age of Discovery.
Sagres is near the Western end of the world's longest estimated straight-line path over land, at 11,241 km, ending near Jinjiang in the People's Republic of China.
History
The name Sagres derives from Sagrado owing to the important local religious practices and rituals that occurred during the pre-history of the nation. From here some of the Mediterranean peoples, venerated their divinities and which some believed, owing to the absence of a human settlement, was the gathering place for their gods. Christians that lived in this zone during the Muslim occupation erected the Church of Corvo, where the mortal remains of Saint Vincent were deposited in the 8th century. The presence of the martyr's remains led the Portuguese to refer to the site and the peninsula as the Cape of Saint Vincent.The area is linked to Infante Henry, son of King John I and Philippa of Lancaster. Although born in the provincial city of Porto in 1394, he would be associated with the parish, until his death in 1460, being known in Portugal as the Infante of Sagres and "Prince Henry the Navigator" in the rest of Europe. Although there existed a medieval settlement in this area, all the land was donated on 27 October 1443 to Infante Henry. The prince was head of the military Order of Christ, Duke of Viseu, Master of Covilhã, and a man preoccupied with his signeurial holdings and defense of his faith. Henry obtained his wealth from the lands he held and the fisheries in the Algarve, and the rights from the gold and the African slave trade, and the founding of a village to assist the population. The small town of fishermen was situated on the Ponta de Sagres, a strategic point dominating the coves of Mareta and Beliche. Henry controlled his material interests from Lagos and when he died on 13 November 1460, the Portuguese navigators and other services had already reached Sierra Leone.
Sagres was created in 1519, through the division of the municipality of Vila do Bispo.
King Sebastian was known to have spent time in the parish, listening to music along the cliffs and the sea. A chronicle of the 16th century referred to the young King's stay at the Convent of São Vicente do Cabo, and later, locals recounted that the King was enchanted by the landscape of Sagres.
In May 1587, explorer and privateer Francis Drake disembarked 800 men who assaulted the fortress of Sagres. After two hours of intense combat, fortifications adjacent to the fortress were destroyed and its artillery was pillaged.
Until 1834, Sagres was an independent municipality.
Geography
Sagres is located in the extreme southwest of continental Europe, and marked by two geomorphological structures: the Cape St. Vincent and Sagres Point, which establish a transition between the eastern coastal and meridional zones. Exposed to the Atlantic Ocean, it is influenced by Mediterranean currents, marked by promontories of high cliffs leading onto a platform that oscillates between and. Whether by coastal erosion, or the hard rock, its composition influences the relief of the area.At 157 meters high, Torre de Aspa is a viewpoint on the western side of Vila do Bispo, which offers a panoramic view of Sagres and São Vicente Cape.