Lagos

Lagos (lä'goosh) [key], city (1991 pop. 12,956), Faro dist., S Portugal, in Algarve, on the Atlantic Ocean. The excellent harbor shelters much coastwise trade and an important sardine and tuna fishing fleet. Sancho I with the help of bands of Crusaders captured (1189) the city from the Moors; in 1191 it was recaptured by the Moors but was soon (c.1250) restored to the Portuguese. Lagos was a starting port for Portuguese navigators in the time of Prince Henry the Navigator, who was first buried at Lagos. The disastrous expedition of King Sebastian set out from there. The city was severely damaged in the 1755 earthquake. Off Lagos, in 1759, the British under Admiral Boscawen defeated the French.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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