What Is the Monument to the Discoveries?

The Monument to the Discoveries — Padrão dos Descobrimentos in Portuguese — is a 56-meter riverfront sculpture shaped like the prow of a caravel, the ship type Portuguese explorers used during the 15th- and 16th-century Age of Discovery. The version standing today began as a temporary structure built for the 1940 Portuguese World Exhibition; architect Cottinelli Telmo's design was rebuilt permanently in limestone and concrete between 1958 and 1960, with construction led by architect António Pardal Monteiro, and inaugurated on August 9, 1960 to mark the 500th anniversary of Prince Henry the Navigator's death.

Sculptor Leopoldo de Almeida, with assistants Soares Branco and António Santos, carved 33 figures along both flanks of the monument — Henry the Navigator stands at the bow, followed by kings, navigators, cartographers, missionaries, artists, and scientists associated with Portugal's maritime expansion. In the pavement directly in front of the monument is a 50-meter compass rose, a gift from South Africa in 1960, with a world map marking the routes and dates of Portuguese discoveries.

Unlike its Belém neighbors, the Monument to the Discoveries doesn't carry a UNESCO World Heritage listing — that distinction belongs to the nearby Jerónimos Monastery and Belém Tower. It's a 20th-century monument rather than a 16th-century one, and it's managed today by EGEAC, the Lisbon City Council's culture and events agency, which also runs the on-site exhibition space and program of temporary shows.

Tickets & Prices 2026

According to the official Padrão dos Descobrimentos ticketing page, full admission — covering the viewpoint elevator, the ground-floor exhibition, and the short film — costs €10 for adults in 2026. A reduced rate of €5 applies to visitors aged 13 to 25 who aren't residents of the Lisbon municipality, and €8.50 to seniors 65 and over under the same non-resident condition. Visitors with specific needs and accredited culture professionals pay €7. Children up to 12 enter free, except on organized school visits.

An exhibition-only ticket, which skips the elevator ride to the terrace, costs €5 for adults, €2.50 for youth, €4.30 for seniors, and €3.50 for visitors with specific needs. Free entry applies to Lisbon municipality residents on Sundays and public holidays until 2:00pm, Passe Cultura holders, Lisboa Card holders, ICOM and ICOMOS members, unemployed Lisbon residents, and verified veterans — bring ID or proof of status, since these categories are checked at the ticket desk. If you're weighing whether a city pass is worth buying for your trip, our breakdown of whether the Lisboa Pass is worth it covers which Belém-area sights it discounts.

Tickets are sold online through the monument's official BOL ticketing platform and at the door. Booking online is worth doing between June and September: the terrace elevator has limited capacity, and the monument sometimes caps how many visitors are allowed up at once during the busiest midday hours.

Opening Hours & Best Time to Go

Hours change seasonally but the monument stays open every day of the week:

• March–September: daily 10:00am–7:00pm (last entry 6:30pm)
• October–February: daily 10:00am–6:00pm (last entry 5:30pm)
• Closed: January 1, May 1, December 24, December 25, and December 31

That daily schedule is a genuine planning advantage. Both Belem Tower and Jerónimos Monastery, its two Belém neighbors, close on Mondays — so a Monday itinerary that would otherwise leave Belém half-shut can still center on the Monument to the Discoveries. Mid-morning through early afternoon in high season draws the heaviest crowds and the longest elevator queue; arriving at opening or after 4:30pm gives a calmer visit and better light for photos from the terrace. On Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, short films about the monument's history screen inside at 11:15am and 4:00pm.

How Long to Plan

Budget 45 minutes to an hour for a full visit: the elevator ride up, a walk around the terrace for river and bridge views, a pass through the ground-floor exhibition, and a look at the compass-rose pavement outside. It's a quicker stop than Jerónimos Monastery next door, which can absorb 1.5 to 2 hours on its own, so most visitors treat the monument as one stage of a longer Belém morning rather than a destination in itself. If you're mapping how a Belém half-day fits into a longer trip, our 2-day Lisbon itinerary shows where it slots in without crowding out the rest of the city.

How to Get There

The monument sits on the Tagus riverfront at Av. Brasília, about 6km west of central Lisbon — a 20 to 30-minute trip depending on traffic. Tram 15E runs from Praça da Figueira and Cais do Sodré through Belém and is the most popular route, though it's often packed in high season; treat it as scenic rather than fast. Buses 27, 28, 29, 43, 49, 51, and 112 also serve the area, and the Cascais Line train from Cais do Sodré stops at Belém station, roughly a 6-minute walk from the monument along the riverfront.

If driving, the public lots near the monument and the nearby MAAT museum are a safer bet than street parking, which fills early on busy days.

Visit Tips: Queues, Booking & Common Mistakes

Book online in advance if you're visiting between June and September — the terrace elevator has a fixed capacity, and midday queues in peak season can run 20 to 40 minutes before you even reach the ticket desk. If online booking isn't available for your date, arrive at 10:00am opening or plan for the late afternoon instead.

The terrace at the top is open-air with limited shade, so midday sun exposure is a real factor in summer — bring water and sun protection rather than counting on shelter once you're up there. A common mistake is treating the monument as a half-day stop; it's genuinely a 45-to-60-minute visit, and the bigger time investments in Belém belong to Jerónimos Monastery and the Pastéis de Belém bakery a short walk away, not the monument itself.

Because it's one of the few Belém sights open on Mondays, check whether your other planned stops are closed that day before you build your route.

Nearby Attractions

The Monument to the Discoveries sits roughly midway along the Belém riverfront, an easy walk from Lisbon's other Age-of-Discovery landmarks. Belem Tower is about a 10-minute walk west along the water, and Jerónimos Monastery is a similar distance east, across Praça do Império — most visitors combine all three into a single Belém morning or afternoon, since they share the same historical theme even though only the tower and monastery carry UNESCO status. The MAAT museum, a striking riverside contemporary-art building, sits between the monument and the tower and is worth a stop if you have extra time.

Back in central Lisbon, São Jorge Castle is a tram or train ride away rather than a walk — most visitors treat Belém as a separate half-day trip from the historic center rather than combining the two areas into one continuous route.

Frequently Asked Questions