CULTURE
Portuguese Culture Luis Vaz de Camoes
(1524-80) is the most famous poet to have written in Portuguese
and is a Portuguese national hero. His best-known work, The Lusiads,
is an epic poem in 10 cantos about Vasco da Gama's discovery of
a sea route to India in 1497-98.
The Portuguese concept of saudade-nostalgia
mixed with a melancholy acceptance of fate-finds its clearest
expression in the songs of fado, heard most often in restaurants
in Lisbon's older districts, such as the Alfama.
Portugal has many ancient and medieval monuments and buildings,
that include the Pena and Sintra palaces; the ex-royal residence
of Queluz; the walled city of Obidos; the cathedrals at Batalha
and Alcobaca; the castle of Sao Jorge in Lisbon; Roman temple
ruins in Evora; and the castle of Afonso Henriques in Guimaraes,
near Oporto, where the Portuguese nation was founded.
