Cape St. Vincent Cape St. Vincent Cape St. Vincent (, ) is a headland in the municipality of Vila do Bispo, in the Algarve, southern Portugal. It is the southwesternmost point of Portugal and of mainland Europe. Cape St. Vincent was already sacred ground in Neolithic times, as standing menhirs in the neighborhood attest. The ancient Greeks called it Ophiussa (Land of Serpents), inhabited by the Oestriminis and dedicated here a temple to Heracles. The Romans called it "Promontorium Sacrum" (or Holy Promontory). Strabo, in his Geography call this cape the most western tip of the known world and reports the place was
Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1641) Gijsels, abandoned by their Portuguese and French allies, had to sail back to England to make repairs. Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1641) The Battle of Cape St Vincent of 1641 took place on 4 November 1641 when a Spanish fleet commanded by Don Juan Alonso de Idiáquez y Robles intercepted a Dutch fleet led by Artus Gijsels during the Eighty Years' War. After a fierce battle two Dutch ships were lost but the Dutch claimed only a hundred of their men were killed; the Spanish fleet also lost 2 ships but over a thousand dead. The damaged Dutch fleet