Welcome to the Official page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

Honourable Mayor of Cascais,
Honourable Speaker of the Municipal Assembly,
Ladies and Gentlemen,


On September 28, 1878, one hundred and thirty years ago, on the occasion of the fifteenth birthday of Prince D. Carlos, the esplanade of the Cascais Citadel was lit with recourse to a novelty which the then existing technology had made available: electric power.

Six lamp standards were used, ordered by King D. Luis, equipped with a recent invention: the bulb with carbon filaments. These were electric arc lamps with carbon electrodes which made possible the installation of public electric lighting systems.

The first worldwide use of this new invention had taken place in Paris only four months earlier. Portugal was thus in line with forefront technical progress, and young D. Carlos was associated with the auspicious event.

Carbon filaments, however, had a great drawback: a short useful life, which required frequent replacement. It was then that Portuguese ingenuity surged, when a school master from Santarém, João Rodrigues Ribeiro, thought out a simple, cheap and functional device to switch filaments.

The plans of the Portuguese invention were published in 1879, in the Journal of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences. But, in spite of all its benefits, the patent licensing was never requested neither was it put into practice at any time. It was just a remarkable idea which was never given any use.

The lamps that lighted up the Citadel and the feeder generator, donated by King D. Luis to the city of Lisbon, were quickly forgotten. The system was not very functional and nobody ever remembered to use the switching device of the Santarém inventive school master.

In that same year of 1878, King D. Luís presented his eldest son with his first ship, the Nautilus. The picture of this beautiful sailing boat would then be preserved by D. Carlos in an admirable watercolour.

It was thus here, in Cascais, in that year of 1878 that began the assertive artistic, scientific and practical vocation of a man who was always deeply linked to the sea.

Genuinely interested in culture, in art and in the progress of modern life, D. Carlos was more than a cultured person. He was a keen practitioner in art and science. A King, a scientist, but also a creator.

Ornithology, oceanography, marine biology and meteorology are subjects for which our Country is greatly in his debt. He equally provided his endeavour to the introduction of new technologies, such as electric power, photography or wireless telegraphy. What was important, above all, was that Portugal should not be left behind. Or, to use his own words, what is important is “to go ahead”. This maxim is still applicable in our time.

His pioneering role in sciences of the sea must always be praised. D. Carlos was one of the first to disturb the almost absolute quietude of the ocean deep. At a time when foreigners were only beginning to show some interest in obtaining knowledge of Portuguese waters, D. Carlos was prompting their investigation by Portuguese oceanographers in Portuguese research ships.

During his scientific campaigns in the Amelia yachts, D. Carlos captured, catalogued and conserved numerous species, some of which only then became known. He studied them in his laboratory, the first Portuguese oceanographic laboratory, which he installed here, in the Cascais Citadel.

The mass of marine zoology collected by D. Carlos continues to fill with admiration all those who visit the D. Carlos I Oceanographic Collection in the Vasco da Gama Aquarium, set up during his reign.

He was thus the founder of Portuguese oceanographic science. Even today, the Naval Hydrographical Institute continues the research then started on the marine depths of our waters using, amongst others, the hydrographical ship baptized “D. Carlos I”. Nothing is more appropriate than to see his name associated to a Portuguese Navy vessel where the scientific knowledge obtained is primarily used for the benefit of the national interest.

The “King D. Carlos Sea Prize”, created and awarded by the Cascais County Council to distinguish research in sciences of history and the sea is, in line with what was referred above, the recognition due to the scientist for his contribution to the knowledge of the ocean that washes the shores of Continental Portugal and those of the Archipelagos of Azores and Madeira.

But D. Carlos, in addition to his discoveries of the outline and the fauna of the sea bottom, also endeavoured a methodical investigation of the fish resources in our waters, with the declared intent to aid the progress of our fishing industry. Already at that time, he wanted to gather knowledge and determine the means for a rational exploit of the existing resources.

He was a man of his time, the end of the 19th century, when it was believed that science would allow humanity to prevail over nature and determine its future.

Possibly impressed with the means available to access scientific and technological advances without taking the consequent advantages for the common good, as had been the case with public lighting in 1878, D. Carlos was fully conscious that, in the most diversified fields, only by linking scientific knowledge with its practical applications could conditions be found to develop the country and improve the welfare of the Portuguese.

D. Carlos received a rare combination of gifts, amongst them the vocation and talent for painting. Granted with a high degree of technical perfection and artistic sensitivity, his landscapes reveal an artist which has in nature his preferred motive.

It was said of him that, when staying in the Cascais Citadel, he captured on his canvas all the vessels that crossed the mouth of the River Tagus. Several of his marine watercolours are on show in the D. Carlos I Sea Museum, here in Cascais.

With his preference for marine topics D. Carlos chose the most important of our symbols. Marine life, ever present in our close association with the sea, whether on our shores or faraway locations, minted the characteristics of the Portuguese. Our identity, the way we commonly define our reality and our future, is determined by our relationship with the sea. It is something that brings us together, symbolically, as an historical and cultural reference. It grants us a collective sense.

However, after the excitement of the epic, a strange phenomenon came about: we regressed into ourselves; we turned our backs to the sea. D. Carlos, as King, as scientist and as an artist, was one of those persons who actively encouraged a symbolic reunion with our collective nature.

This sense of openness stamped the way in which he interpreted his role as a monarch. As an experienced traveller, habitué of European courts, his knowledge of the world was very rare amongst the Portuguese of the time.

Conscious of our capabilities, knowing the then existing constraints, he tried to diplomatically serve the country, endeavouring to assert Portugal in the concert of nations at a particularly delicate time, when the convulsions which marked the 20th century were already easy to guess.

In successive travels to foreign nations he was able to gather friendly audiences. With his involvement, some of the more prominent political leaders of the then great powers were led to visit Portugal, an important diplomatic victory for our country.

With the statue we are unveiling today, the town of Cascais pays tribute to D. Carlos, a man of the sea. In this commanding bronze figure we see D. Carlos on board one of his Amelia yachts, named in the honour of his Queen. He is standing at the stanchions, watching the horizon. He who at sea was in his element will remain here, near to the Citadel, contemplating it for ever.

He seems to view the horizon serenely, as if he were searching for new sources of knowledge of the sea. Or as if was guessing storms ahead, but wants to face them without showing fear, as, we are told by his contemporaries, was a trait of his character.

Destiny wanted that D. Carlos, as King, should face storms. Men, however, wanted that time should not be given him to override them. The tragic death of D. Carlos happened one hundred years ago today. It is our duty, at this moment, to honour the man, the Portuguese, who always endeavoured to serve his Country.