The Cape of Sagres, at the south-western end of Portugal, is a prominent natural landmark and it had been strongly associated to a mythical force since many centuries ago; the Romans called it Promontorium Sacrum. In fact the etymological root of the name is closely linked to the place?s sacred nature, largely due to the fact that Saint Vincent remains rested there until they were transferred to Lisbon, by order of the Portuguese first King, Afonso Henriques (1111-1185).
To our knowledge today, Prince Henry's interest for this place is only documented from 1443, when he asked permission to build a village there. This seems to be explained by the significant increase of exploration voyages from 1441 on. In this context it is almost sure that the Prince was well aware of the constraints faced by shipping that, sailing along Algarve's coast, made the connection between the Mediterranean Sea and the North of Europe. Ships sailing north were often hindered to cross the cape and navigate along the western coast due to the typical strong summer northern wind effects at sea. They would then find shelter at the natural bay of Sagres, and wait there until the weather conditions became favourable. Additionally, those sailing in the opposite direction would often anchor at the bay of Lagos for ship?s replenishment and crew?s rest purposes. However, when the wind blew from east (levante), which is also common in this area, the bay of Lagos would not provide the desired shelter, leading the ships to search for shelter at the bay of Belixe (located between the capes of Sagres and S. Vicente). The ships would then stay there until the weather conditions allowed them to proceed safely to Gibraltar Strait. As a result of its location at the natural limit of the bays that provided shelter to the most common winds in the area, Sagres became a regular and almost unavoidable seamen meeting point, promoting the exchange of knowledge and experiences between them, in line with Prince Henry?s purpose. Adding to this, when compared to Lisbon, Sagres is nearer to the African coast and to the Atlantic archipelagos, whose "discovery" was at the core of the Prince's plans.
Despite the obvious advantages associated to Sagres location, the place could never assume the role played by Lagos or Cadiz as privileged stopping spots for south coast shipping, except when the aforementioned circumstances prevailed. An evidence of this is the large number of voyages promoted by Prince Henry to the African coast that had set sail from Lagos. This situation, seemingly inconsistent, can be justified by the fact that Sagres area was not favoured with productive land to sustain a numerous population and was affected by a chronic lack of potable water. These were probably the main factors that had hampered this place to develop the necessary conditions for providing the ships anchoring there with their common replenishment needs.
It was anyway during the voyages promoted by Prince Henry that his navigators became acquainted with the prevailing wind and current conditions, improved their navigation methods (dead reckoning and nautical astronomy) to achieve higher precision levels when determining the ship's position, identified the ships features that had be improved to overcome the new navigation challenges posed by the Atlantic, including better living conditions aboard and more effective ways of storing and transporting goods. In summary it was all this activity carried out with determination and resilience that has been associated to the myth of the famous School of Sagres. Even though we are not aware of any proof of its material existence, at least in terms of our conception of a dedicated teaching place and associated characteristics, we do not, however, put in question the existence of a School of Sagres as reflected in the methodical approach and work developed, as well as in the consistent and tenacious way how its Sailors, simultaneously apprentices and masters, managed to expand the existing nautical and geographic knowledge and attain the established objectives.
Taking all this into account, Sagres has been chosen to be the name of the Portuguese Navy training ship, in recognition to the Sailors of this golden period of our Maritime History.