Monument to the Discoveries

Monument to the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos) is one of Lisbon’s most powerful and symbolic landmarks, especially for those interested in history and exploration. Located along the Tagus River in Belém, this impressive monument celebrates Portugal’s Age of Discoveries and honors the explorers, navigators, and visionaries who played a major role in world history. The design is striking, shaped like a ship’s prow with detailed statues of famous figures such as Henry the Navigator, Vasco da Gama, and Ferdinand Magellan. The riverside location adds to its beauty, making it a great place for walking, photography, and enjoying the view. You can also go inside and take the elevator to the top for panoramic views of Belém, the river, and the surrounding monuments. The large compass mosaic in front of the monument is equally fascinating. Overall, it is an inspiring place that combines history, architecture, and scenic views, and it should not be missed when visiting Lisbon.

Impressive monument for sure. Staff were a bit abrupt but efficient. Elevator to the top was good. Views amazing as the morning fog lifted. The basement had an interesting exhibition on sardines, which I learned are a major export of Lisbon. And…if you’re into celebrating those who not only started the age of discovery but also kicked off centuries of genocide and subjugation around the globe I’m sure you’ll have a blast. I mainly went for the cool views of the bridge.

We were in Lisbon for 6 days on a tour cruise by NCL. One of our tours was to Belém where there is lots to see. First we went to this fantastic Monument to the Discoveries which highlights the worldwide explorers from Portugal. It is a wonderful monument and very large. Sitting right on the waterfront pointing out to see. There is a mosaic of the world in the pavement just in front. A very busy area with all the tourists so not easy to get good clear pictures. On a boat ride, we also passed by and took more pictures.

The Monument of Discoveries is impressive and absolutely worth seeing from the outside — the scale, detail, and waterfront setting are stunning. We wanted to go inside for the viewpoint, but unfortunately the line was moving very slowly, so we didn’t get a chance this time. Still, a beautiful landmark and a great stop while exploring Belém.

The Monument to the Discoveries is absolutely stunning! Its scale and intricate sculptures bring Portugal’s Age of Exploration to life, featuring legendary figures like Prince Henry the Navigator and Vasco da Gama. The location along the Tagus River is perfect, with breathtaking views from the top platform. The surrounding Belém district, including the Jerónimos Monastery and Belém Tower, makes it a rich historical experience. A must-visit for anyone interested in history, culture, or photography. Highly recommended!

I visited the Padrão dos Descobrimentos while exploring the Jerónimos Monastery. This impressive monument is a tribute to the Portuguese heroes and sailors who helped introduce Europe to the rest of the world during the Age of Discovery. Inside, there’s a small museum that offers interesting exhibits about Portugal’s maritime history. Climbing to the top of the monument rewards you with a beautiful panoramic view — you can see the Jerónimos Monastery, the Belém Tower, and even the city of Lisbon in the distance. Overall, I really enjoyed the visit. It’s a must-see spot in Belém and absolutely worth the stop.

Padrão dos Descobrimentos is one of Lisbon’s most striking landmarks. The monument itself is impressive in scale and beautifully detailed, and the waterfront setting adds to its impact. The view from the top is excellent, offering a clear panorama over Belém, the river, and the Jerónimos Monastery. The surrounding area is spacious and pleasant for a walk, making it an ideal stop when exploring Belém. A must-see if you want to experience an important part of Portugal’s history and architecture.

The architecture by the river is so mesmerising. We caught it on the way to Cascais. On the way back, we drop by Belem station to witness this magnificent monument celebrating explorers and visionaries.

One of the landmarks of Portuguesel sea discoveries. A must see if you got time. You can also go inside, I can comment on that since I haven't had the time to do so.

Busting five knots, Wind whipping out my coat, You can't stop me *bleeperbleeper*, 'cause I'm on a boat. (Lonely Island, "I'm on a Boat") "Get your towels ready, it's about to go down!" You're about to see a boat! A boat-shaped monument, that is. Whip out your Lisbon Card to ride for free on the train from Cais do Sodré Station over to Belém to view this colossal monument honoring Prince Henry the Navigator, along with other famous explorers and artists like Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan and T-Pain. Destination: 15th-16th Century, Portuguese Age of Discovery. Exit the train station in Belém and it's just a short walk in your flippie-floppies down the Tagus River waterfront to get to this impressive concrete and stone ship. I'll skip the monument's historical details as they are covered in depth in previous reviews, but will add that this spot gets insanely busy. You may prefer to avoid the long wait for the inside tour to make time for other attractions in Belém instead. After bidding adieu (or adeus) to Prince Henry, you can cross the road via underpass to reach the Jerónimos Monastery and Pastéis de Belém. Most recommendations online are to spend a full day in Belém, but you can still get through most of the main attractions in a half day if your time is limited. We combined a morning in Belém with an afternoon and evening in Cascais and Cabo da Roca. Overall, I give this monument and Belém in general 5 nautical-themed, pashmina Afghans.

The city of Lisbon is absolutely breathtaking. There is so much to see but one in particular is this monument to the discoveries. Very cheap to get to the top and a nice place to walk around, read some history and get some amazing pictures. You get a really good view of the city when you get to the top. I would add this as a stop if you are being a tourist for a day.

This monument is certainly worthy of a fly-by. It is located in Rosa dos Ventos square, which is basically across from Jerónimos Monastery, a 10ish minute walk from the Tower of Belem, and near few other museums. As such, you may want to balance your time elsewhere as you decide what to visit and for how long. I swung by for photos of the outside of the grand monument decided to the Portuguese Age of Discovery. It was worth snapping a few pictures, however, I opted against spending the time (and small entry fee) to go up to the top. Had it not been quite as crowded, I may have headed to the top.

Beautiful monument. Lovely area to walk around too. The grandeur of what humans can achieve artistically is impressive to see. A lot of the other yelp reviews already provide historical context, so am skipping that and just ending with: Def Must visit! Yelp 2019

My wife and I were here on a Gate1 tour. We must confess that this is one of the best attractions in Lisbon, the Monument to the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos). It's shaped like a ship, with 32 figures lined up on a stylized prow on both sides, representing personalities from the 15th and 16th centuries following Prince Henry -- only one of them is a woman, Queen Filipa de Lencastre, who was Prince Henry's mother. Located along the Tagus River estuary where ships departed to explore and trade with India and the Orient, the monument celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery (or "Age of Exploration") during the 15th and 16th centuries. Please excuse if there are duplicate photos, as we went from one side to another side, and there's a lot to photo

Portugal may be a small country now, but during the Age of Discovery in the15th and 16th century, her explorers went out into the oceans and, for better or worse, made significant impact in the history of the world. The monument is different on both sides, featuring a total of 33 statues, including royalty, explorers, artists, scientists, missionaries and more. The beautiful white monument stands out beautifully against the clear blue sky Portugal is so famous for, and the backdrop of the Tagus river makes this a must visit spot for tourists for photo ops. Even the tiles on the ground deserve a few photos of their own. On weekends, if you are lucky, you may even see students from the art school performing in front of it. If you are not in a rush to the next tourist destination, take a stroll or ride a bike along the riverbank, or just sit by the river and enjoy the breeze and watch ships sailing by.

The Monument to the Discoveries represented a romanticized idealization of the Portuguese explorers & the church. The statue is 171 feet tall and has 33 people representing figures from the Portuguese Age of Discovery. These are great people of the era included monarchs, explorers, cartographers, artists, scientists and missionaries. Each idealized figure is designed to show movement towards the front (the unknown sea), projecting a direct or indirect synthesis of their participation in the events after Henry. Inside the monument is an auditorium and exhibition halls. We walked passed a tile compass structure is located on the northern bank identifying Portuguese explorers.

This monument is so massive that I spotted it two days ago as my plane arrived into Lisbon from a few thousand feet up. The 52 meter (171 feet) tall slab stands vertically along the bank of the Tagus. It is designed to look like the front of a Portuguese caravel ship - the type that were used to discover the route to India and the Americas. They look quite similar from the east and western side but the figures on the profiles are different. On the east side, they include Alfonso V (King of Portugal from 1438-1481), Vasco da Gama (discoverer of the route to India in 1497-1499), Pedro Álvares Cabral (discoverer of Brazil), Ferdinand Magellan (first to circumnavigate the globe), Bartolomeu Dias (first to round the Cape of Good Hope in 1488). On the west side, the figures include Queen Philippa of Lancaster, Luís de Camões, and Nuno Gonçalves. There are a total of 33 figures on both sides. The monument has an interior with auditorium with space for 101 people and you can access the top of the monument for a view of the Tagus. However in light of COVID, I decided to simply enjoy the monument from the outside. [Review 16616 overall - 132 in Portugal - 126 of 2022.]

The monument to the discoveries is impossible to miss. Located on the north banks of Tagus River, just a short walk from Belém tower, across the street from Saint Jeronimos Monastery. It was erected to celebrate and commemorate the age of discoveries in Portugal in 1960, on a 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator. Statues represent people who somehow contributed to discoveries. The monument is 172 ft tall, made of steel, concrete and limestone and from the top for 6 euros you have some of the best views of Tagus River, 25th April suspension bridge, and you can even see Christ Rei statue on the southern banks. I was quite impressed when I realized how good navigators and sailors they were. The mural in front of the monument is really interesting, don't miss it.

Monument of Discovery located at the Rosa dos Ventos square. The Rosa dos Ventos meaning compass rose. This is 16 point compass for navigation. This is dedicated to the navigation of Portugal. This point out the powerful navigation and strongholds of Portugal during the 15th and 16th century. Portugal has been greatest explorer discovery of the world. The monument was erected for the memory of discovery. Henry navigator was on the tip of the monument and followed by a bunch navigator and famous people like king and queen. They do discover Brazil, sea route to India, Congo River and more.

Built in 1960, this monument commemorated the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator. Both side depict the history of Portugal. On the ground next to the monument is a map showing the extent of Portuguese sailors' explorations in the 15th & 16 centuries.

This is a large, impressive monument located on the bank of the harbor denoting the spot where the great Portuguese navigators embarked on their voyages bring news, spices and riches from Asia and South America. We visited with a private guide who explained the images starting with the king and various religious figures up to Henry the Navigator on the point of the monument. The scale of this is truly impressive and it's a nice spot to go when visiting the othe attractions in Belém. It's free but not really wheelchair accessible as you have to walk down stairs and go through a tunnel under the freeway to reach it when coming from the monastery side of the road. These is also a large map on the ground of the globe showing the dates the Portuguese made contact in various places around the globe from the americas to India and Macau. Quite interesting for a visit.

Strolling through and this was on the way to the Belem Tower! Charming pier walk or cruise! Pop by, admire and breezily go!

This is quite the impressive Monument. After being built in 1940 only meant to be temporary it was reconstructed in 1960, this time it was meant to stay. The year that marked the death of Infante Dom Henrique (Henry the Navigator) 500 years ago. It's a nice sight, especially when you come walking along the Tajo from the Torre De Belem. There is the option to go up there on top. Sure you get the river views from there, but to enjoy the monument itself this is not necessary. For good pics it's good to have some distance to it, but to check out the detailed work, you need to go up-close.

Amazing historic and architectural site. A monument of epic scale dedicated to the lineage of Portuguese exploration and discovery. Very highly recommended Slainte

This was one of the stops on our city tour yesterday. We were there on the early side, so we had the pleasure of seeing the world map embedded in the concrete in front of the monument w/o a crowd of fellow tourists. Our guide, Sofia, gave us a detailed explanation of the geopolitical background behind the Portuguese explorations, including why Brazil is the only country in South America that speaks Portuguese. In the 16th Century the Pope divided the known world between Spain and Portugal. The Portuguese King negotiated an expansion westward and this land became Brazil. The monument itself is gorgeous and imposing, w/ finely wrought faces of the explorers. You can see its beauty in the photographs others have posted. Rather than repeat the history of the monument, I will include a wikipedia link so you can read about it if you wish. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padr%C3%A3o_dos_Descobrimentos It was a beautiful and enlightening stop showing the huge empire Portugal once had.

English Translation: "Monument of the Discoveries" Chun P Translation: "Monument of the Destroyers" Well, maybe not all of them, but European "explorers" tend to be associated with theft, rape, murder, and enslavement. Also, did you really discover something if humans were already there? Native Africans were in Africa long before the Portuguese and other evil Europeans showed up uninvited, and which we all know led to the slave trade... Despite this dark and sinister history of Planet Earth, this monument is pretty impressive looking. For €5, you can ride up the elevator to the top for some spectacular views of Lisbon. There's a tiny museum at the bottom floor acknowledging the evils of the slave trade, but I still think this monument over glorifies.

One of the must see places in Lisbon. The Monument of Discoveries, a tribute to the Portugeese Explorer, is one of the most popular tourist sites so be prepared to accept the crowded conditions especially if you want to go inside. You can ride an elevator to the top for $5 Euro and get some splendid views of Belem and the river. Plan to spend at least 2 hours.

A larger than life memorial, with a map behind it, in the tile work on the ground that shows the greatest Portuguese explorer contributions to the world. The impressive map also shows just how vast the empire was during the 15th and 16th centuries. This vast empire was maintained with a navy that manipulated wind and ocean water flows, and superior military might.

It's a beautiful sculpture. We didn't go in- since we'd gone to the top of the Christ sculpture- and nothing beats that view. But you should definitely get photos of this- it's beautiful. And I agree with the person who said if you really want photos of the Tagus here- chose this or the Belem Tower- but no need to do both. The lines were definitely shorter for this! We didn't do either, because we were happy with our pictures from the outside and we'd already taken a million photos from the top of Christo Rei.

Padrão dos Descobrimentos might be the most photographed monument in Lisboa. A little history of the glorious day during the Age of Exploration in the 15th and 16th Century. Fun to look at the maps and statues that all have a story to tell. I can imagine school groups comes here for a field trip. I ended up coming here every time when I am in Lisboa.. as it is located right across the street from Pastel de Belem.. Nuff Said!

A stunning monument to all of the Portuguese explorers. We were there early in the day before it was overwhelmed by the tour groups. We did not go up into the monument, we just observed from the outside which was fine. I need to do some homework to recall my grade school lessons on these folks....

Interesting monument and it is quite large. It looks new. There is a museum inside. You can pay to take the elevator to the top for 5 euros. The views are quite impressive and you can see far away, all the sites of Belem and more. It is obviously taller than Torre de Belem and an option if you don't want to take the stairs up in that tower. If you are set on taking skyline photos, this is your spot. Staff were grumpy and kept on having an internal conversation keeping a long line on hold.

All the famous people which has something to do with Portugal are carved in this monument. Only problem is that it is difficult to know who is who without a guide.

One of the biggest attractions in Lisbon...the Monument of Discoveries Take the time to take the lift to the top. It's cramped up there...but worth the views! As you are getting your Birdseye view up...look down and see the tiled maps of the worlds. It's fascinating in the museum, they have preserved the sailings of the discoverers to the new world! This won't take a long time so don't miss it. It's worth the stop!

Visited on a cold, wet, and windy day. Waited about 30 minutes in line but for the views it was worth it. There's an elevator but you can also choose to take the stairs.

Larger than I though statue commemorating Portugal's world explorers. It's nothing fascinating, another one of those walk to it for a photo opp then move on to bigger and better. The square itself that it's in isn't that impressive either. I still recommend stopping by to see it. If you want, you can even climb up it for a small fee which we didn't do.

This was another sightseeing area with a great view of the cathedral and it's next to the river.

Beautiful plaza but the relatively new monument, continuously exposed to the elements, is not looking in great shape. It needs an overhaul. Great view from the top, if you are willing to shell out 3 euros, from which you can see the Vasco da Gama bridge, all the other sights in Belem, and most of the rest of Lisbon. The map on the ground has some questionable accuracy, but the goal is to celebrate Portuguese explorers, so I guess they get a pass.