Cabo de Santa Maria (Angola) explained

Cabo Santa Maria
Type:Cape
Map:Angola
Relief:1
Map Width:280
Location:Angola
Water Bodies:Atlantic Ocean
Coordinates:-13.4186°N 12.5333°W

Cabo de Santa Maria is a cape in Angola some 200 km southwest of Lobito and 130 km southwest of Benguela.

History

In 1482, the Portuguese navigator Diogo Cão reached Cabo de Santa Maria on his first journey to explore the African West coast south of the Equator. The cape was first called Cabo do Lobo (Wolf's Cape).[1]

To mark the place as being under Portuguese sovereignty, Diogo Cão erected a stone cross, a Padrão.[2] It carried the following text:

It remained there until its transfer to Lisbon in 1892.

References

  1. Book: John Horace Parry. 1981. University of California Press. 9780520042377. en. The Discovery of the Sea.
  2. Book: Amy Schoeman. 2004. Struik. 9781868728916. en. Skeleton Coast.
  3. A. Fontoura da Costa, p. 24