Rosa dos Ventos

The compass rose in Sagres Castle

The Rosa dos Ventos (compass rose ) or Rosa dos Ventos do Infante D. Henrique (compass rose of Henry the Navigator) is a stone circle with a diameter of 43 meters, which is located in the Fortaleza de Sagres in the Algarve , Portugal , is located.

The paved circle was discovered by accident in 1921. It is divided into 42 individual segments. It is still unclear what the wind rose was originally used for. One explanation says it is a navigation aid , another theory assumes it functions as a sundial . The compass rose is dated to the time of Heinrich the Navigator ( 15th century ).

Web links

Commons : Rosa dos Ventos  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• The Fortaleza on the website of the Portuguese Ministry of Culture (in Portuguese)
• The compass rose on the Sagres website

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rui Parreira: Fortress of Sagres , Departamento de Estudos / IPPAR

Coordinates: 37 ° 0 ′ 1.6 ″  N , 8 ° 56 ′ 51.7 ″  W.