invme Place
Everywhere
All cities · Everywhere →
EN
ENEnglish RURussian FRFrench DEGerman ITItalian ESSpanish PTPortuguese PT-BRBrazilian Portuguese ES-MXLatin American Spanish FR-CACanadian French EN-GBBritish English UKUkrainian PLPolish JAJapanese NLDutch KOKorean SVSwedish DADanish NBNorwegian FIFinnish CSCzech HEHebrew ELGreek ZH-HANTTraditional Chinese HUHungarian RORomanian HRCroatian SKSlovak SLSlovenian ETEstonian LVLatvian LTLithuanian BGBulgarian TRTurkish

Sagres Fortress

Fortresses & city walls ·Sagres ·Closed
4.424.4K
#5Things to do in Sagres Faro District AlgarveMost reviewed in SagresTravelers' Choice 2025
Make a plan here
Directions Website Call Bookmark

Sign up free — See who's going and message them.

Is this your place? Get the badge for your website

About

Sagres Fortress is a coastal stronghold on a steep promontory in Sagres, Portugal’s Algarve, east of Cape St. Vincent. Built in the 15th century, it was rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake.

More photos 9

1 / 9
Sagres Fortress

Sagres FortressSagres FortressSagres FortressSagres FortressSagres FortressSagres FortressSagres FortressSagres FortressSagres Fortress

Why go

  • Rosa dos Ventos, a circular stone design with 32 directions.
  • The Church of Nossa Senhora da Graça, founded in Henry the Navigator’s time.
  • A surviving cistern from Vila do Infante.
  • The coastal stronghold that helped defend Sagres’s port during Portuguese exploration.

Opening hours

Today09:30 – 17:30Show all
Monday09:30 – 17:30
Tuesday09:30 – 17:30
Wednesday09:30 – 17:30
Thursday09:30 – 17:30
Friday09:30 – 17:30
Saturday09:30 – 17:30
Sunday09:30 – 17:30

Don't miss

  • Rosa dos VentosRediscovered by chance in 1921, this stone feature has an uncertain purpose; it may have served as a sundial.On the fortress grounds

Know before you go

  • The fortress grounds and surrounding landscape are protected.

What's inside

  • The Church of Nossa Senhora da Graça has a single nave, a quadrangular apse and a barrel-vaulted interior.
  • Funerary tombstones are displayed inside the church.
  • The Correnteza houses an exhibition centre and visitor services.
  • The Catarina Chapel altarpiece was transferred here from Belixe Fortress for security in 1997.

Tips for your visit

  • Follow the visitor routes’ descriptive panels about the monument and the promontory’s plants and animals.
  • Use the exhibition centre in the Correnteza to explore the fortress’s history.

Best time to visit

  • The fortress is open daily from 09:30 to 17:30.

Interesting facts5

1/5

  1. The promontory is about 1 km long, 300 m wide and 40 m high.

    Fortress of Sagres - Wikipedia

  2. Belixe and São Vicente supported Sagres in the coastal defence system.

    Fortress of Sagres - Wikipedia (part 2)

  3. Archaeologists found traces of a moat and drawbridge at the entrance.

    Fortress of Sagres - Wikipedia
  4. 1460

    Henry the Navigator died at his house here on 13 November 1460.

    History - Promontório de Sagres
  5. 2015

    The Sagres Promontory received the European Heritage Label in 2015.

    Promontório de Sagres - Onde a terra acaba e o mar começa

Shorts

History

Ancient writers knew the promontory as Promontorium Sacrum. Its last sheltered port offered ships a stopping point before they entered the Atlantic. Henry later obtained a grant to establish Vila do Infante here.

  1. 8th c. B.C.Mediterranean sailors came to the promontory for goods from the Far West and consulted the gods there.
  2. 779Local religious tradition says St. Vincent’s remains arrived at the promontory.
  3. 1443The crown granted Infante D. Henrique the Cabo de São Vicente territory for life.
  4. 1587Francis Drake attacked and damaged the fortress.
  5. 1631Philip III ordered repairs to parts of the outer walls.
Show all
  1. 1793Reconstruction began under José de Sande Vasconcelos, who altered the fortress layout.
  2. 16 June 1910The fortress was declared a Portuguese National Monument.
  3. 1969An earthquake severely damaged the fortress.

Accessibility

  • Accessible walkway A roughly two-kilometre walkway was installed for visitors with reduced mobility during the 2009–2010 improvements. This does not establish step-free entry or access to every building.

Sources: Fortress of Sagres - Wikipedia · Fortress of Sagres - Wikipedia (part 2) · Fortress of Sagres - Wikipedia (part 3) · Promontório de Sagres - Onde a terra acaba e o … · Vision, Mission, Objectives - Promontório de Sa… · History - Promontório de Sagres · Fortaleza de Sagres - Wikipedia · Forteresse de Sagres - Wikipedia · Fortaleza de Sagres - Wikipedia · Gallery - Promontório de Sagres · checked 28 Sep 2026

Where
R. da Fortaleza, Sagres

Plan from here: A day out →

Questions and answers

Did Henry the Navigator establish a navigation school at Sagres Fortress?

That traditional account is disputed; Lagos may instead have been the sailing centre.

Is Sagres Fortress a UNESCO World Heritage Site?

It was nominated in 2017 as part of Lugares da Primeira Globalização, but the nomination was not an inscription.

What was the church at Sagres Fortress originally called?

It was originally dedicated to Santa Maria.

How invme works
  1. See who's going — faces, not ticket counts.
  2. Write to someone who shares your interests — no swipes, no matches, no paywall.
  3. Pick the event or the place to meet at — and go together.
Join free

Reviews on invme

Sign in to review
Comment Share
Loading comments…