CASCAIS, Portugal: Archaeologists searching Portugal’s coast have found a 400-year-old shipwreck believed to have sunk near Lisbon after returning from India laden with spices, specialists said on Monday.
“From a heritage perspective, this is the discovery of the decade,” project director Jorge Freire said. “In Portugal, this is the most important find of all time.”
In and around the shipwreck, 40 feet (12 meters) below the surface, divers found spices, nine bronze cannons engraved with the Portuguese coat of arms, Chinese ceramics and cowry shells, a type of currency used to trade slaves during the colonial era.
Found on Sept. 3 off the coast of Cascais, a resort town on the outskirts of Lisbon, the shipwreck and its objects were “very well-preserved,” said Freire.
Freire and his team believe the ship was wrecked between 1575 and 1625, when Portugal’s spice trade with India was at its peak.
In 1994, Portuguese ship Our Lady of the Martyrs was discovered near Fort of Sao Juliao da Barra, a military defense complex near Cascais.
“For a long time, specialists have considered the mouth of the Tagus river a hotspot for shipwrecks,” said Minister of Culture Luis Mendes. “This discovery came to prove it.”
The wreck was found as part of a 10-year-old archaeological project backed by the municipal council of Cascais, the navy, the Portuguese government and Nova University of Lisbon.
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As it hit the pitch, Catan leapt into action and started performing rudimentary CPR, pumping the bird’s ribcage.
“When I started the chest compressions, it began moving its legs. The more it moved, the more I kept going,” he said.
When it started breathing, he carried it off the pitch to medical staff, who took care of it.
By that evening, videos had gone viral on social media and Catan said his phone began ringing nonstop.
“We’d lost the match, so I wasn’t in a good mood. Then overnight the messages started coming in. We were shocked by how fast it spread,” he said.
“It’s been in the press in Brazil, Italy, America...”
Since the Istanbul match, Catan has received animal rights organization PETA’s “Hero to Animals award.”
Originally from the northern Turkish city of Tokat where he lives with his two cats, Catan had dreamed of playing football since childhood.
The story ended sadly, however, as the bird later died, according to a commentator who witnessed the incident.
Yurdum Spor is considering adding a seagull to its logo in tribute.
400-year-old shipwreck ‘discovery of decade’ for Portugal
400-year-old shipwreck ‘discovery of decade’ for Portugal
- Freire and his team believe the ship was wrecked between 1575 and 1625, when Portugal’s spice trade with India was at its peak
Turkish footballer hailed as hero after saving stunned seagull
- Gani Catan, captain of amateur club Yurdum Spor, raced across the pitch Sunday after a ball knocked the low-flying bird to the ground
- “I acted on instinct, or maybe I once saw someone do this on a dog or a cat,” he said
ISTANBUL: A Turkish amateur footballer has gone viral for saving a seagull’s life with CPR after it was struck down during an Istanbul match.
Gani Catan, a 32-year-old accountant and captain of amateur club Yurdum Spor, raced across the pitch Sunday after a ball knocked the low-flying bird to the ground.
“I acted on instinct, or maybe I once saw someone do this on a dog or a cat,” he told AFP a few days later as he watched the club’s youth teams train.
As it hit the pitch, Catan leapt into action and started performing rudimentary CPR, pumping the bird’s ribcage.
“When I started the chest compressions, it began moving its legs. The more it moved, the more I kept going,” he said.
When it started breathing, he carried it off the pitch to medical staff, who took care of it.
By that evening, videos had gone viral on social media and Catan said his phone began ringing nonstop.
“We’d lost the match, so I wasn’t in a good mood. Then overnight the messages started coming in. We were shocked by how fast it spread,” he said.
“It’s been in the press in Brazil, Italy, America...”
Since the Istanbul match, Catan has received animal rights organization PETA’s “Hero to Animals award.”
Originally from the northern Turkish city of Tokat where he lives with his two cats, Catan had dreamed of playing football since childhood.
The story ended sadly, however, as the bird later died, according to a commentator who witnessed the incident.
Yurdum Spor is considering adding a seagull to its logo in tribute.
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