Saint Vincent, Cape

Saint Vincent, Cape, Port. Cabo de São Vicente, high and rocky promontory at the southwestern extremity of Portugal. Several historic sea battles were fought nearby, the most notable in 1797, when the British under John Jervis defeated a large Spanish fleet and Commodore Horatio Nelson distinguished himself. To the Portuguese the cape symbolizes the dreams and plans of Prince Henry the Navigator, the Portuguese patron of exploration, who lived nearby.

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Saint Vincent, Cape

Cape, Portugal. Located at the southwesternmost point of Portugal, the cape was known to the Greeks and Romans as Promontorium Sacrum (“Sacred Point”) because of a shrine there. Pastoralism and fishing are the economic mainstays of the region. Near Sagres, the main settlement, was the town of Vila do Infante, where c. 1420 Prince Henry the Navigator established a naval observatory and school for navigators. Many naval battles have taken place off the cape.