Monument to the Discoveries

Avenida de Brasília
Phone: (+351) 213.016.228

Monument to the Discoveries
Built in 1960, the actual construction of concrete displaying limestone sculpures is a replica of the original model, built with perishable materials for the Portuguese World Exhibition, in 1940, by the architects Cottinelli Telmo and Leopoldo de Almeida.

Padrão dos Descobrimentos has an auditorium and several rooms for temporary displays, and it is possible to climb to the top for a splendid panorama of the river Tagus and the West side of Lisbon.

The pavement in front of the entrance exhibits a huge mariner´s compass, made of coloured marble, representing the odyssey of the Discoveries.

Facing the monument, the Espelho de Água ("Water Mirror ") was equally built for the 1940 exhibition, which also induced the arrangement of the Praça do Império gardens, in Greco-Roman style, and the construction of the Illuminated Fountain at the center.