More Goans visiting Vasco da Gama’s tomb

LISBON: A world heritage monument in Portugal has seen a massive spike in visitors from Asia thanks to the tomb of one of the world’s best-known explorers housed in it. The world renowned Jeronimos Monastery has recorded an “exponential” increase in people visiting it mainly from countries like India, Japan and Thailand — thanks to it being explorer Vasco Da Gama’s final resting place.
Da Gama was the first person to sail directly from Europe to India. Filomena Matos from the monastery’s education department told TOI they have been witnessing a steady increase in the number of visitors from India, particularly Goa. She added that the tomb has garnered a sudden interest among people from Japan and Thailand who visit it in hordes every day. Tourist records show that in 2012, over 15,000 Indians visited Portugal and spent nearly 2 million.
King Manuel I built it in 1502 on the site of a hermitage founded by Prince Henry the Navigator where Da Gama and his crew spent their last night in Portugal in prayer before leaving for India. It was built to commemorate Da Gama’s voyage. The tomb was placed inside by the entrance as was the tomb of poet Luis de Camoes who authored the epic ‘The Lusiads’ which glorifies Da Gama’s triumphs. Since Da Gama died in Kochi in 1524, he was buried there. Later his remains were returned to Portugal and taken to the Convent of Our Lady of Relics at Vidigueira. Only in 1880 were his remains moved to the Monastery of Jeronimos. The Church was considered the national pantheon,” Matos said.
In 1497, Da Gama was appointed to command an expedition equipped by the Portuguese government, whose intention was to find a maritime route to the east. Setting off in July 1497, the expedition sailed south down the coast of Africa then veering far out into the Atlantic and swinging back in an arc to arrive off the southern African coast. The expedition then rounded the Cape of Good and after sailing up the coast of east Africa took on an Arab navigator who helped them reach the Indian coast at Calicut (now Kozhikode) in May 1498.