Planispheric map

The planispheric map displayed at the Maritime Museum entrance represents a singular time. Scientific pioneering, together with a unique strategic vision, made Portugal the first nation in the world to cross oceans and put in contact civilisations until then unknown to each other. Cartography was, along with nautical instruments and ships, one of the key elements of the art of navigation developed by the Portuguese in the 15th and 16th centuries.