MADRID, December 24. /TASS/. Approximately 250 ships with treasures remain on the sea bottom near the Portuguese coast with up to 22 tons of gold and silver on one of them alone, Portuguese archeologist Alexandre Monteiro said.
"We know that there are 250 ships with treasures," the Observador newspaper quoted him as saying.
The archeologist compiled a database of shipwrecks near the coastal regions of mainland Portugal as well as the surrounding waters of the Azores and Madeira. There have been about 8,620 of them since the 16th century. "I have documented around 7,500 wrecks along the mainland coast, 1,000 near the Azores, and 120 near Madeira," he told Portuguese news agency Lusa. "I know, for instance, that off the coast of Troia, there’s a Spanish ship from 1589 called Nossa Senhora do Rosario. I have investigated its history and even know the name of the captain’s mother. Official records show it carried 22 tons of gold and silver," Monteiro said.
Portugal was one of major colonial countries with overseas lands in South America, Africa and the East Indies in the 15th - 16th centuries. As a result of gradual disintegration of Portuguese colonial empire, such independent states as Brazil, Angola, Mozambique and others emerged.