The Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex includes the site where it is thought that the first recorded contact between the Khoekhoen and European seafarers happened.
It is here where the Portuguese seafarer Bartolomeu Dias, the first European who managed to sail around the southern tip of Africa, landed in 1488. Dias’s journey not only opened the sea route between Europe and Asia but would eventually lead to the colonisation of southern Africa.
King João II wanted Portugal to have a major stake in the lucrative spice trade. He, therefore, appointed Bartolomeu Dias to search for a sea route to India as an alternative to the dangerous overland route. Portugal’s aim in the Indian Ocean was to ensure the control of the spice trade. Dias left Lisbon in August 1487 with three caravels and found a navigable passage from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. This paved the way for trade between Europe, Africa, and India.
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Dias named Mossel Bay, Aguada de São Brás. This was in honour of Saint Blaise, an Armenian healer and bishop, whose feast day is celebrated on 3 February; the day Dias landed at Mossel Bay. The name Mossel Bay was given by Paulus van Caerden in 1601. Van Caerden gave the following description “We found it a lovely land, without many trees, but with deer and elephants. Apart from water, we got little refreshment except for mussels, and therefore gave it the name of Mossel Bay.”
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The Post Office Tree, The Maritime Museum and The Shell Museum are within the museum complex.
Maritime Museum: A must visit!
The museum covers Portuguese maritime history from 1488 and their connection with the English and Dutch explorers.
A replica of the caravel used by Bartolomeu Dias to round the Cape of Good Hope in 1488 currently dominates the interior of the museum. Various maritime exhibitions depict the ‘successes’ and ‘failures’ of the Portuguese, Dutch and English seafarers around the south-eastern coast of Africa.
A blue-and-white ceramic tile mural in the foyer depicts a dangerous mythological creature, Adamastor, first created for the Portuguese epic poem The Luciads by Luis Vaz de Camões (1524-1580). Adamastor symbolized the dangerous natural forces Portuguese seafarers encountered and then overcame at the ‘Cape of Storms’ to find a sea route to India.
The caravel replica:
It was built for the 1988 500-year commemoration of Dias’s voyage around the southern tip of Africa.
At the time Portuguese caravels were two- or three-mast, shallow-draught ships that played an important role in Portuguese maritime history. They were the first deep-sea ships, characterised by the Christian cross appearing on their sails, used by Portuguese seafarers on trade voyages.
The Portuguese Sail & Training Association (APORVELA) was tasked to build a ‘caravel-type’ for the planned commemoration. The historical appearance of the caravel was maintained in the design of the topsides, deck arrangement, steering gear, masting, rigging and sails. However, below deck, the design was adapted to allow for modern sleeping arrangements and a motorised engine. The historical 15th-century design did not make provision for sleeping arrangements.
The replica caravel was built near Oporto in Portugal. The hull was made of pine and oak and equals the width of a modern tug. It had a displacement of about 130 tons, which included 37 tons of ballast, made up of concrete and granite blocks from Lisbon. The ship has two masts and two lateen sails.
The 1988 voyage took three months from Portugal to Mossel Bay. An engine was installed to make sure the caravel arrived on time for the festival that took place on 3rd February 1988.
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