Located on the south westerly tip of Portugal (and Europe) is Cabo Sao Vicente lighthouse. There was a light maintained by monks at this location as early as 1515.

A nice shot of an Algarve farmhouse just outside of Sagres

photo: Carn Burton

This headland of Cabo Sao Vicente (Cape Saint Vincent) is the south westerly tip of Portugal (and Europe).

The legend of the martyr Saint Vincent is that his relics were mysteriously transported by ravens from the Holy Land to the Cape and subsequently guarded by them. In 1173 the ravens reputedly then moved the relics to Lisbon where they remain to this day.

On the tip is the lighthouse and a few hundred metres back is the 17th century fort constructed by Prins Henry the Navigator or Dom Alfonso Henrique and inside the Fort was a Maritime school built, for Navigation an Exploration.

Photograph taken from a small charter plane of Sagres - the South Westerly tip of Portugal

Aerial photograph of the point in Sagres.

The fortress on the headland dates back to the 15th century, although it has been built a few times since.

Also on the headland is the 'Wind Rose', a compass wiht a 143 ft diameter marked out in stone on the ground. It is around the same age as the fort and was used for measuring the direction of the wind.

To either side are the beaches of Tonel and Mareta.