Lisbon
10/07/07 17:20 Filed in: Portugal
Up fairly early and into Belem cultural centre for more coffee. Then it was on to the maritime museum across the road which had been closed yesterday.
While not a huge museum it was very interesting and I spent over two hours there. There was a large section on the early Portuguese navigators who were supported by King Henry "The Navigator" who did not do much navigation himself but was a patron of those who did. I also found out that "Gil Eannes" was from this era and was the first european to round Cape Bojador in Mauretania.
The section on Portuguese warships revealed that Portugal engaged in armed conflict with India in the early 1960's, something I was not aware of. There was a good section on the Portuguese cod fishing fleets which were served by the restored hospital ship "Gil Eannes" which I had seen in Viana do Castelo. There was also a model of this ship.
The last section featured some beautifully restored royal barges and a small selection of Portuguese owned seaplanes one of which had made a non stop flight to Argentina.
After some more sightseeing I had an early dinner called it a day. Tomorrow will be a long one.
While not a huge museum it was very interesting and I spent over two hours there. There was a large section on the early Portuguese navigators who were supported by King Henry "The Navigator" who did not do much navigation himself but was a patron of those who did. I also found out that "Gil Eannes" was from this era and was the first european to round Cape Bojador in Mauretania.
The section on Portuguese warships revealed that Portugal engaged in armed conflict with India in the early 1960's, something I was not aware of. There was a good section on the Portuguese cod fishing fleets which were served by the restored hospital ship "Gil Eannes" which I had seen in Viana do Castelo. There was also a model of this ship.
The last section featured some beautifully restored royal barges and a small selection of Portuguese owned seaplanes one of which had made a non stop flight to Argentina.
After some more sightseeing I had an early dinner called it a day. Tomorrow will be a long one.