North Eastern Atlantic

West of central Portugal, the open Atlantic extends beyond the mouth of the Mondego and the Berlengas. At Figueira da Foz the river meets the sea, and the port developed alongside shipbuilding and the drying of cod. Farther south, the rocky Berlengas lie off Peniche; the fort of São João Baptista was built there in the mid-seventeenth century. Islands, river mouths and coastal harbors gave sailors landmarks along a shore exposed to the ocean.