Portuguese Discoveries and the Padrao dos Descobrimentos - Monument to the Discoveries, Belem

Almost two years ago we were in Lisbon and I'm looking forward to returning soon.  Last time I wished we had gone inside this magnificent monument in Belem, Lisbon,  but at the end of a long day of sightseeing  we only managed to admire it  from the outside. It was constructed in 1960 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator who stands proudly on the front facing the River Tagus and during whose reign, the age of discovery blossomed in Portugal. The monument celebrates 32 men and just one English woman, Philippa of Lancaster (Henry's mother) who were responsible for historic discoveries or artistic and creative developments, shown below.  As always, I've tried to find stamps to link in with the theme of my blog and my discovery is that there are Portuguese stamps portraying several, but not all of these people. 

I can so far list: Henry the Navigator, Vasco da Gama, Joao Goncalves Zarco, Gil Eanes, Bortolomeu Dias, Diogo Cao, Fernao de Magalhaes, Pedro Alvarez Cabral some of whom appear in this beautiful set of 8 stamps issued in Portugal in 1945.

Hoping to revisit and maybe this time we will go inside the monument and discover more about the brave navigators who changed so much in the course of history!