Lagos
From Sagres, we took a spin 40km east again to Lagos. This is another town which had its heyday during the Portuguese Age of Discovery, although there have been settlements in this area for over two millennia.
Due to the success of the travel expeditions to Africa and further afield, ships returned to Lagos laden with spices and goods – and also slaves. Lagos became the European centre of the slave trade from Africa in the 15th century. The Mercado de Escravos (Slave Market) is a historical building in Lagos. It is located on the site where the first slave market in Europe of the modern era took place, in 1444. The building was first used for military administration and, later, as a customs house. In 2016, the whole building was occupied by a museum dedicated to the story of slavery.
The town is a mixture of old and new, much of it maritime related. It is famous for its walled old town and its beautiful beaches with stunning rock formations, although we didn’t head that way.
We spent two nights in a motorhome stopping point by the leisure centre and were within walking distance of the town centre. This was a very handy spot, but it is now closed permanently to motorhomes, unfortunately!
Morgan with a sack of oranges! A couple were going from van to van offering oranges for sale, as it’s orange picking season.
We were here for our 22nd wedding anniversary on 27th February too 💘 and marked the occasion with some tiramisu and coffee in the town centre 😍
In the centre of Lagos stands a statue of Prince Henry the Navigator, Infante Dom Henrique o Navegado. It was erected on the 500th anniversary of his death.
The old walls of the city:
Some aspects, past and present, of the marine life of Lagos where the Bensafrim River meets the Atlantic:
And then, from the Algarve, we travelled north to Lisbon at the end of February.