Easy to believe the medieval mind would look out from here and see the edge of the world. That everything somehow drops off; there be dragons just over that horizon.
Of course that isn’t at all what the medieval mind thought. The whole idea of pre-renaissance people clinging to the idea of a flat earth was actually created sometime in the 17th century.
This is where Prince Henry the Navigator stood. At one time it was popular to think of Hank as a brilliant cartographer, standing on the bow of the mighty little pony of the sea, the caravel, as he charted the coast of Africa, discovering the Azores and Canary Islands along the way. Sagres housed his School of Navigation. Here the seeds were planted for future generations to go forth in the spirit of exploration and, well, just a little exploitation.
Now the historians and authorities on such things say Sagres was more likely Henry’s villa. He lived here and 
contemplated exploration. He funded the design and construction of the caravel but never actually set foot on one. He thought Africa looked like a great place to get 
some free labour and use the natives to further Portugal’s expansion. A short cut to India was the ultimate goal but a little light looting along the way was all just a happy by-product.
The Spanish were also sending out their explorers, notably the mis-directed Christopher Columbus. He may have stumbled onto bits of the New World but the Portuguese already had title to a piece of that action thanks to a Papal division of the world. It was later revised slightly which resulted in Brazilian passion for football while the rest of South America became experts at diving.
Now it is all empty space and monuments to the past glory. The riches of the New World built much of modern Portugal. Now the Made in the Americas dragons are coming back to roost in the old World.
