Page 30 - WDT MAGAZINE PORTUGAL

Valley near present-day Porto. They spread through independent state in 1140.
much of the Iberian Peninsula mixing with Celtic Spain was a thorn in the country’s side for
tribes that arrived around 1000 BC. hundreds of years as it tried to subjugate their
The Romans invaded the peninsula 800 years smaller neighbor but Portugal finally succeeded in
later, establishing towns at the present-day sites of breaking Spain’s hold in 1640. Each occupier left an
Braga, Porto, Beja, Evora, and Lisbon. Lusitania as indelible mark, physically and culturally, in art,
the Roman’s called the country was important to the architecture, language, religion, traditions, and
empire because its rich farmland helped feed its cuisine.
armies throughout Europe. Germanic tribes invaded The 14th and 15th centuries were Portugal's
in the fifth and sixth centuries and Moors from North golden age of discovery, establishing the tiny country
Africa ruled until Portugal emerged as an

The Cantino

In the early 1500s, Lisbon was a thriving place alive
with people from all over Europe searching for jobs,
fame and fortune. One of them was a horse trader, but
his sideline was Italian spy, Alberto Cantino. It was
Cantino’s job to collect information on Portuguese
Discoveries around the world. He smuggled a detailed
map from Portugal to Italy in 1502, now called The
Cantino planisphere or Cantino world map which is the
earliest surviving chart identifying Portuguese global
discoveries including Asia, the Americas. It is one of the
very first maps showing America's East Coast, including
the coasts of Florida,11 years before Ponce de León got
credit for discovering the place.

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