Museu de Marinha

This guide to the Museu de Marinha in Lisbon follows a carved wooden angel, barely sixty-five centimetres tall, that sailed from Lisbon in 1497 aboard the São Rafael in the fleet trying to reach India by sea. You'll hear how Paulo da Gama saved it when his ship sank on the return voyage, and how it went on to sail with Vasco da Gama on two more voyages before spending nearly a century in India. Look for it among the room's ship models — the same shore those fifteenth-century fleets left from lies just outside.