What do these places have in common?

Sri Lanka

Macau, China

Malacca, Malaysia

And here's the real clue....Goa, southern India

The answer, of course, is Portugal. This relatively small country (about the size of Hungary) became a force to be reckoned with from the 15th-century onwards.

(Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Exploration, conquest and trade were the major motivations, and the spice islands of the Indian Ocean and beyond were magnets to these intrepid seamen, for good reason. At this time,spices, especially cloves and nutmeg were often valued higher than gold in European markets.

The Portuguese Empire was the first global empire in history. It was the longest-lived of the modern European colonial empires, spanning almost six centuries, from the capture of Ceuta in 1415 to the handover of Macau in 1999 or the grant of sovereignty to East Timor in 2002.

The empire spread throughout a vast number of territories that are now parts of 53 different sovereign states.

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Visit many of these countries today and you may still see vestiges of Portuguese colonisation.  As well as additional long-term effects on a country's language and culture, most enduring and visible is the influence on............

Architecture, especially linked to religion

St Paul's Church, Macau

The Portuguese influence is strong in Macau, and little wonder as it was a Portuguese colony for four hundred years from the mid-1500s. You see it in the Catholic churches, especially in the one landmark everyone sees, the ash-grey facade of St Paul's, built in 1602, which looms over the old town of Macau.

.....then there is the  food

In Macau, and many other places, now, these delicous treats are known as 'Portuguese' tarts. Read more about them further on....

See other countries whose menus have been influenced by Portugal......

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Sri Lanka

As in Portugal fish and seafood are used often in dishes and many locals fish the waters around Sri Lanka, staying up all night on their outrigger canoes several kilometres out to sea, catching cod and mullet.

Hauling in the catch requires a team of men, usually about a dozen each side, dragging on thick ropes to bring in a net which would hopefully be full of fish.

In 1505 King Manuel I of Portugal appointed Francisco de Almeida first Viceroy of Portuguese India, establishing the Portuguese government in the east. That year the Portuguese also conquered Kannur, where they founded St. Angelo Fort, and Lourenço de Almeida arrived in Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka), where he discovered the source of cinnamon.

Many locals still bear Portuguese names such as Pereira and da Silva.

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Macau, China

Macau did not develop as a major settlement until the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century. In 1513, Jorge Álvares became the first Portuguese to land in China. In 1535, Portuguese traders obtained the rights to anchor ships in Macau's harbours and to carry out trading activities, but not the right to stay onshore. The connection stayed until 1999, almost 500 years later.

Looking down over the cobbled streets made from Portuguese ships' ballast, visitors see this busy pedestrian thoroughfare that  leads visitors into another age.

WATCH this video...to learn more about Macau

Interestingly it took an Englishment to introduce Portuguese-style custard tarts to the Portuguese colony of Macau. Lord Stow was British, Essex-born, and his 'title' came about like this. Portuguese diners at Afonso, Macau Hyatt's upmarket restaurant which he managed in the 1980s, thought it added a little style having a Brit in charge and conferred the title. But Lord Stow added something to Macau himself, becoming known as the man who made better custard tarts than the Portuguese. His bakery exists still in the delightful village of Coloane in Macau's south. Read more....

Sometimes with Macanese food it is hard to know whether the chilli and spices in a dish are due to the Chinese influence (Szechuan, noted for fiery foods is not much further inland) or the Iberian peninsula's love for it. Likewise is a curry-like dish of stewed duck with blood vinegar sauce (pato di cabidela) more Chinese because of its mix of duck and pork and blood, or a nod to Goa and Sri Lanka because of the bold use of spices? Clams with spicy chorizo are worth trying, as are fresh sardines in summer. Wash it all down with affordable imported Portuguese wines. See more about the food of Macau....

Yet, there are always the underlying reminders of the Portuguese founders, resident until so recently. Street signs, names of restaurants and the swirling decorative tiling in many of the squares and pedestrian streets. That Chinese New Year brings golden baubles to decorate them just underlines the friendly and diverse mix of Macau.

Nearby, at the 16th-century Mount Fortress, these cannons that once protected the city, now attract only tourists and energetic children.

Macau was the world's first Jesuit city and it is not hard to imagine it centuries ago.

Read more....

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Goa, India

Remnants of Portuguese colonialism are still alive and well in the city, and it is worth walking or driving around the neighbourhoods and imagining the old city as it was for centuries when it was an eastern outpost of Portugal. 

In 1510, the Portuguese defeated the ruling Bijapur sultan Yousuf Adil Shah with the help of a local ally, Timayya. They set up a permanent settlement in Velha Goa (or Old Goa). This was the beginning of Portuguese rule in Goa that would last for four and a half centuries, until 1961. Read more....

The colours remain, or have been reworked into newer buildings: blue and white tiles, yellow paint, and ornate signs. As you move around and meet people, it is obvious of the Portuguese heritage in people's names: Pereira, Da Costa, De Silva and many others are a reminder that Portugal only withdrew from Goa around 50 years ago.

Although only opened recently, the decor of Goa's Grand Hyatt also reflects Goa's Portuguese heritage by recreating these traditional fishing baskets.

Francis Xavier was a tireless missionary throughout all of Asia and it is said he was responsible for 30,000 coverts to Roman Catholicism. The Basilica Bom Jesus, aka the church of Francis Xavier, is one of Goa's major tourist attractions in in the city. Thousands of pilgrims make their way here annually, especially for the saint's special day on December 3. (see video below).

The highly decorated basilica is a UNESCO World Heritage site in Old Goa and is one of the oldest churches in India.

The body of the state's own saint, St Francis Xavier, an early Christian missionary to Goa, lies in a silver casket inside a glass case, high above the crowds that visit daily. It is said that it has never decomposed, even though he died in 1552.  For many years, the coffin was lowered once a year, but that practice has been stopped in recent years.

Malacca, Malaysia

Malacca has had three colonists and fragments of each persist in the people, the architecture and the culture.

In April 1511, Alfonso de Albuquerque set sail from Goa to Malacca with a force of around 1200 men and seventeen or eighteen ships. They conquered the city on 24 August 1511.  It soon became clear that Portuguese control of Malacca did not also mean they controlled the busy Asian trade centred there. This makes this historic stone, unearthed in Malacca and displayed near the main square, especially interesting.

In 1641, the Dutch defeated the Portuguese in an effort to capture Malacca, with the help of the Sultan of Johore. Because of its pivotal position on the east-west trade routes, the area became an important empire, and rich cargoes of gold, salt, tea, opium, tobacco and perfumes were sold and bartered there. For centuries, the Portuguese, English and Dutch vied over it, coveting the monopoly of the spice trade and each left a dab of their culture – rose stucco Portuguese churches, Buddhist and Hindu temples, Dutch forts and English colonial mansions.

The rose-pink Christ Church that faces the busy main square was constructed in 1753 reflecting the original Dutch architecture. On the hill behind it A Famosa Fort was constructed by the Portuguese in 1511, almost 250 years beforehand, but suffered severe structural damage during the Dutch invasion. The plan by the British to destroy it was aborted as a result of the intervention of Sir Stamford Raffles in 1808.

The Maritime Museum or the Flora de Lamar is a replica of a 16th-century Portuguese ship which sank off the coast of Malacca while on its way to Portugal. The replica galleon is a staggering 34 metres in height and eight metres wide. The main focus of the museum is the maritime history of Malacca and the golden ages of Malacca’s Sultanate as the Emporium of the East. See Malacca's other museums....

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Other countries have had brushes with Portugal over the golden centuries when their fleets were so active...........

Mauritius

1498 - Portuguese explorers stumble upon Mauritius in the wake of Vasco da Gama's voyage around the Cape of Good Hope.

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Morocco

There were a series of battles between Morocco and Portugal in the 16th-century. The first battle was in Ceuta, marking the start of the Portuguese Empire. The last battle was at Ksar-el-Kebir, initiating the 1580 Portuguese succession crisis.

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Indonesia

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to reach the islands of Indonesia. Their quest to dominate the source of the lucrative spice trade in the early 16th century, and their simultaneous Roman Catholic missionary efforts, saw the establishment of trading posts and forts, and a strong Portuguese cultural element that remains substantial in Indonesia. Read more.....

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Thailand

The Portuguese also stirred the pot in Thailand. See this.....

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Australia

The theory of Portuguese discovery of Australia claims that early Portuguese navigators were the first Europeans to sight Australia between 1521 and 1524, well before the arrival of Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon, who is generally considered to be the first, in 1606 on board the Duyfken. Read more....

Would you like to know which other places Portugal colonised?  Read more.....

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Text: Sally Hammond

Images: Gordon and Sally Hammond

Videos: Gordon Hammond