Gateways To The Sea
Look out from a tower, a port or a city wall. From the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic and Caribbean, trace the meeting of trade, power and the sea.
01 · Portugal · 1519
Belém Tower
In the autumn of 1519, Portuguese sailors returning from months of tempestuous ocean voyages entered the mouth of the Tagus River where it joins the Atlantic. On the horizon, they sighted a white silhouette rising from the water like a stone jewel floating in the bay.
Read the story02 · Tanzania · c. 1100
Kilwa Kisiwani
A few hundred metres off the coast of Tanzania there is a small island. On it stand a mosque with fallen domes, the ruin of a palace looking out to sea, and walls eaten by salt wind. The place is called Kilwa Kisiwani — Kilwa on the island.
Read the story03 · Colombia · c. 1586
Cartagena Walls
In February 1586, a fleet of over twenty warships led by the notorious English privateer Sir Francis Drake entered the bay of Cartagena. The town was virtually undefended at the time; its wooden houses and simple earthworks offered no resistance to Drake's cannons.
Read the story04 · Cuba · 1519
Old Havana
In the late sixteenth century, during the summer months, Havana Bay—one of the safest natural harbors in the Caribbean—became a bustling forest of masts and sails. Dozens of massive Spanish galleons carrying silver from Peru, gold from Mexico, and porcelain from Asia gathered in the harbor.
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