the estado novo monument nobody plans, but everyone visits
The Padrão stands in Belém, on the Tagus riverfront, right in front of the compass rose drawn on the ground. The first version, in perishable materials, was erected in 1940 for the Exposição do Mundo Português with a clear purpose: celebrating the Discoveries as the founding act of a national identity the Estado Novo wanted to fix in place. Twenty years later, on the fifth centenary of the death of Infante D. Henrique, the permanent version in concrete and stone was built. The architecture is by Cottinelli Telmo, the sculpture by Leopoldo de Almeida. Cottinelli Telmo didn't live to see the result, he died in 1948. The 1960 construction was carried out by António Pardal Monteiro based on the original design.
The form resolves into a caravel prow: two descending flanks with figures leaning against them, and the Infante at the tip of the bow, facing the river. The thirty-two figures are all recognisable if you come with the diagram in hand: Vasco da Gama, Camões, Pedro Álvares Cabral, Bartolomeu Dias, Fernão Mendes Pinto, Magellan, Diogo Cão, and so on. The group includes navigators, cartographers, missionaries, writers, and the only female figure is D. Filipa de Lencastre, the Infante's mother. The ideological reading is all there, in plain sight, no disguise.
Inside, there's a lift to the top. The platform is at 56 metres and looks out over the Tagus, the Jerónimos, the Torre de Belém to the left, and the Ponte 25 de Abril in the background. It's one of the best views in Lisboa: you're not as high as the Cristo Rei, but you're right on the riverbank, with everything lined up in front of you.
Don't forget the ground in front. The compass rose with the planisphere engraved in the stone is a separate piece, a gift from South Africa in the 1960s, marking the Portuguese routes with dates. You'll find people photographing themselves standing on top of the discoveries as if they were houses on a map. The view from above the monument onto the compass rose is also part of the programme.
the whole scene
- current version from 1960, in concrete and stone; original 1940 version in perishable materials
- architecture by Cottinelli Telmo, sculpture by Leopoldo de Almeida
- caravel prow with 32 figures, Infante D. Henrique at the tip
- internal lift to the viewpoint at 56 metres, views from Belém to Belém
- compass rose with planisphere engraved in the ground, in front of the monument
