Padrão dos Descobrimentos

Monument to the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos)
Monument (Monumento)
The Padrão dos Descobrimentos on the edge of the Tagus River, as seen along its western profile
Name origin: padrão dos descobrimentos Portuguese for mark of the discoveries
Country	Portugal
Region	Lisbon
Sub-region	Grande Lisboa
District	Lisbon
Municipality	Lisbon
Location	Santa Maria de Belém
- elevation	50 m (164 ft)
- coordinates	38°41′36.98″N 9°12′20.59″W / 38.6936056°N 9.2057194°W / 38.6936056; -9.2057194Coordinates: 38°41′36.98″N 9°12′20.59″W / 38.6936056°N 9.2057194°W / 38.6936056; -9.2057194
Length	46 m (151 ft), North-South
Width	20 m (66 ft), West-East
Height	52 m (171 ft)
Depth	20 m (66 ft)
Architects	Cottinelli Telmo, Leopoldo de Almeida, Cristino da Silva
Style	Modern classicism
Materials	Steel, Cement
Origin	3 February 1958
- Initiated	November 1958
- Inauguration	9 August 1960
- Inauguration	10 October 1960
Owner	Portuguese Republic
For public	Public
Visitation	Closed (Mondays and on 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May and 25 December)
Easiest access	Avenida de Índia-Avenida de Brasília
Management	Câmara Municipal of Lisbon
Operator	Gestão de Equipamentos e Animação Cultural, E.E.M.
October–April	10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
May–September	10:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.
Location of the Monument within the municipality of Lisbon
Website: www.padraodosdescobrimentos.egeac.pt
Dimensional detail from SIPA – Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico (2008); operational information from Gestão de Equipamentos e Animação Cultural, E.E.M.

Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Portuguese pronunciation: [pɐˈdɾɐ̃w̃ duʃ dɨʃkubɾiˈmẽtuʃ]; lit. Monument of the Discoveries) is a monument on the northern bank of the Tagus River estuary, in the civil parish of Santa Maria de Belém, Lisbon. Located along the river where ships departed to explore and trade with India and Orient, the monument celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery (or Age of Exploration) during the 15th and 16th centuries.

The monument was conceived in 1939 by Portuguese architect José Ângelo Cottinelli Telmo, and sculptor Leopoldo de Almeida, as a temporary beacon during the Portuguese World Fair opening in June 1940. The Monument to the Discoveries represented a romanticized idealization of the Portuguese exploration that was typical of the Estado Novo regime of António de Oliveira Salazar. It was originally constructed as a temporary construction, located in the Praça do Império as part of an urban renewal project favoured by minister Duarte Pacheco, but with the resistance of Cottinelli Telmo. Yet, by June 1943, the original structure was demolished after the exposition as there was no concrete formalization of the project.

On 3 February 1958, in decree No. 41-517, the government, through the Ministério de Obras Publicas (Ministry of Public Works), the Overseas Provinces and the Câmara Municipal of Lisbon, promoted the intent to construct a permanent Monument to the Discoveries. Between November 1958 and January 1960, the new monument was constructed in cement and rose-tinted stone (from Leiria), and the statues sculpted from limestone excavated from the region of Sintra. The new project was enlarged from the original 1940 model as part of the commemorations to celebrate the fifth centennial of the death of Infante Henry the Navigator.