Vasco da Gama Tower

The Vasco da Gama Tower is a 145m lattice tower with skyscraper in the civil parish of Parque das Nações, the municipality of Lisbon, in Portugal. Built on the north bank of the Tagus river, it is named after the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama (the first European to arrive in India by sail, in 1498).HistoryThe tower was built in 1998 for the Expo '98 World's Fair. At the base of the tower was a three-story building that served as the European Union Pavilion during the Expo.While they were open, the tower was the tallest structure in Portugal open to the public (excluding bridges).The base of the building was to be leased for office space after the closing of the Expo, but never found tenants. Instead, it was used for one-off events, like the world premiere of the new Mini car in 2001.Both the observation deck and the restaurant were closed in October 2004.In 2006, the tower was climbed by Alain Robert, a solo urban climber, who was sponsored by Optimus Telecommunications (a Portuguese mobile phone company) as part of a mobile marketing campaign.