One of the main attractions of Lisbon, the Monument of the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos) rises in the most picturesque parts of the Portuguese capital, on the banks of the Tagus River. It is difficult not to notice a giant stone caravel made of white limestone 52 meters high and 20 meters wide. Besides, there are always a lot of foreign tourists waiting in line to take an unforgettable selfie with legendary historical characters and artists whose names are inextricably linked with the history of Portugal.

Such a unique project by the famous architect Cottinelli Telmo and the talented Portuguese sculptor Leopoldo de Almeida was timed to coincide with the international Portuguese World Exhibition, held in Lisbon in 1940. At the same time, the district of the monument, Belem, was enhanced with new roads, squares, fountains, and sculptures. Everything had happened so fast that most of the structures were considered temporary and were dismantled after the end of the exhibition. The same fate befell the first Monument of the Discoveries. The grand opening of the modern monument took place only twenty years later, on the day of the 500th death anniversary of Henry the Navigator. Standing at the head of the monument, his statue symbolically holds the Portuguese caravel of the Age of Exploration. Henry is followed by many outstanding Portuguese personalities: navigators and discoverers, historians and explorers, geographers and cartographers, writers and poets. In total, there are 33 statues on the deck of the caravel, each of which significantly exceeds the height of a real person. There are the statues of the sons of King John I of Portugal, the navigators Joao Goncalves Zarco and Pedro Escobar, the great mathematician Pedro Nunes and cartographer Jehuda Cresques, as well as the shield-bearer of Henry the Navigator, the brave Gil Eanes. The pillar crowned with a cross and a coat of arms, taken in every expedition, deserves special attention.