Cabo Espichel

Cabo Espichel is a cape situated on the western coast of the civil parish of Castelo, municipality of Sesimbra, in the Portuguese district of Setúbal.HistoryFollowing the Calcholitic, human tribes began to look for elevated locations in order provide a natural defense; there are vestiges encountered in the area of Outeiro Redondo and Zambujal, that indicate this preoccupation and conflicts. During the Iron Age, there are documented references to the lands of Risco, farther to the west of Cabo Espichel, that was a largest undefended settlement at the time. Avieno in Orla Marítima named Cabo Espichel, Cabo Cêmpsico, and was probably because the name was associated with the peoples that lived in the vicinity. Later, the geographer Strabo called this area Promontorium Barbaricum.At a time when Roman settlement persisted in the Iberian peninsula, the Roman presence on the cape was limited. This can be explained by the symbology that the Romans conferred on the capes, which they considered sacred, where the gods met at night. Notwithstanding, there are vestiges of the Roman Imperial cult in the Lapa do Bugio, situated in Zambujal, close to Sesimbra.Until today there have not been encountered any evidence of Muslim settlement, but the local toponymy has a few markers, such as the name Azóia, that derived from Al Zawiya (meaning hermitage). Some Moorish coins were also discovered in Lapa do Fumo (but minted in Silves) and some ceramics attributed to hermits from the Lapa do Forte do Cavalo and Lapa do Coelho. During the Middle Ages, various legends attracted people to the site; it was a crucible of Portuguese nationalism, when on 29 July 1180, in the square of Cabo Espichel, D. Fuas Roupinho was able to obtain the nation's first naval victory against the Moors.