어부의 길 구간 - Sagres » Vila do Bispo

The coastline of Sagres and Cabo de São Vicente has a unique situation, in terms of climate, limestone soil and proximity to the sea, classified as the Sagres Biogenetic Reserve in 1988. It brings together endemic species that occur exclusively in that location and generally on the south-west coast of Portugal, such as Biscutella vicentina, Diplotaxis vicentina, Hyacinthoides vicentina, Herniaria algarvica, Cistus palhinhae, Teucrium vicentinum, Thymus camphoratus, Linaria algarviana, Bellevalia hackelii and Silene rothmaleri (endemic to the Reserve).

The peculiar rock formation of Praia do Telheiro is a precious geological heritage for research. You have to descend to this beach to observe this geomonument. At the top of the cliff, raised beaches can be seen, that is, traces of erosion by the sea when it was at a much higher level. Beneath these deposits are the Silves sandstones, of a fantastic reddish colour, more than 200 million years old. Finally, at the base of the cliff, there are schists and greywackes more than 300 million years old, heavily fractured and folded, the “root” of an ancient mountain range, already worn flat by erosion.

Sagres is simply the best place in Europe for observing migrating seabirds, such as the Cory’s shearwater, the gannet, the great skua, the common tern and the little tern. Especially in bad weather, they can be observed from land. Conversely, in good weather, dolphins become more easily spotted. In October, make the most of the famous Sagres birdwatching festival. Besides being a passage point for migratory birds, Sagres is home to an isolated population of the red-billed chough (Phyrrocorax phyrrocorax), which nests on the cliffs and feeds in the pasture fields.

Sagres means “sacred” and, for three millennia, this was one of the limits of the known world, at the extreme south-west of Europe. For the peoples who sailed from the Mediterranean (Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans and Arabs), Cabo de São Vicente was the frontier to the mare incognitum and was known as the Finis Terrae, that is, the End of the World. Legend has it that the relics of St Vincent, a Christian martyr, arrived there in the 8th century, adrift in a boat guarded by two ravens. The cult of St Vincent became so important that D. Afonso Henriques, after taking Lisbon from the Moors, ordered the relics to be collected and transferred to Lisbon, with St Vincent becoming the city’s patron saint.