First European Slave Market Opens in Lagos

1444

In 1444, the first large consignment of enslaved Africans was brought to Lagos by the explorer Lancalote de Freitas, and a slave market was established in the town. This marks one of the earliest documented instances of the transatlantic slave trade that would cause immense suffering over the following four centuries. The chronicler Gomes Eanes de Zurara recorded the arrival and sale of 235 enslaved people in a detailed and disturbing account. The market in Lagos operated for several decades before the main slave trading operations shifted to Lisbon. The site of the market, near the Praca da Republica, is now home to the Mercado de Escravos museum, which documents this chapter of history. Portugal's involvement in the slave trade was extensive and lasted until formal abolition in 1761 for the mainland (and much later for the colonies). Lagos's connection to this history is a significant and sombre part of the Algarve's story, acknowledged with increasing openness in recent years.