Slave Market, the Rota da Escravatura museum site

What it is and why it matters

In Praça do Infante in Lagos, next to the wall and facing the harbour, a low arcaded building has been known for centuries as the Mercado de Escravos. In the 15th century Lagos was the first port in Europe where enslaved Africans arrived by sea to be sold, and this square is the place the city associates with that trade. Since 2016 the building has housed the Rota da Escravatura museum site, one of the spaces of the Dr José Formosinho Lagos Museum, dedicated to telling that story.

What you see

It is a small, direct exhibition. It explains how the Atlantic slave trade began from Lagos, who the captured people were, how they were sold and what role the city played. It starts from a specific discovery: in 2009, when digging to build an underground car park at Vale da Gafaria, outside the old wall, archaeologists found a modern-era rubbish dump with more than 150 human skeletons. Studies confirmed they were Africans brought to Lagos as merchandise; many arrived ill or dying and were thrown among the city's rubbish.

It is a hard visit, told without euphemism, and it changes the way you look at the square and the statue of Prince Henry that you have in front of you as you leave.

Opening hours and closures

Open Tuesday to Sunday, from 10:00 to 13:00 and from 14:00 to 18:00; last entry is half an hour before each closing. Closed on Mondays and on 1 January, Easter Sunday, 25 April, 1 May and 24 and 25 December. The council may close it on particular occasions, for example on weather-alert days: check the museum website if you go in winter.

Price

• General entry: €3.
• Reduced, €1.50: young people aged 12 to 18, over-65s, students and holders of the Cartão Jovem.
• Combined ticket with the Dr José Formosinho Lagos Museum: €5.
• Free: children under 12 (always accompanied by an adult), residents of the municipality of Lagos, people with a disability of 60% or more and one companion, and unemployed EU resident citizens, among others.
• Free entry for everyone on 18 April, 18 May, 23 August, 27 October and during the European Heritage Days.

Bring the document that proves your discount.

How long and how to get there

Allow between 30 and 45 minutes. It is right in the centre, in Praça do Infante, a short step from the wall and the seafront promenade; you can walk there from anywhere in the old town. If you go by car, leave it in the car parks on the edge of the centre and walk.

With children and teenagers

For teenagers it is a visit that stays with you and gives context to everything else they will see in Lagos. With small children, consider the subject: the content is difficult. Children under 12 enter free and must be accompanied.

Before going, you can take the free virtual tour on the museum's website or with the Mercado de Escravos VR app, for iOS and Android.