Portugal did not build up her overseas empire by supporting a man obsessed with one idea, as Spain had supported Columbus.
He was one of the greatest navigators of the fifteenth century - that golden age in the history of discovery and navigation.
This fort, now known as Fort Jesus, is on the spot reached by Vasco da Gama on Palm Sunday, 1498, under the guidance of two Arab pilots.ĪFTER he had sailed from Portugal with four ships in July 1497, Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India by way of the Cape of Good Hope. Six years after Christopher Columbus had sailed across the unknown Atlantic, Vasco da Gama, another great navigator, discovered the sea route to India by way of the Cape of Good HopeĪN ANCIENT PORTUGUESE FORT at Mombasa on the east coast of Africa.
