During the Roman occupation, it‘s name was “Promontorium Sacrum” and the Romans dedicated it to the God Saturn.
In 779, the mortal remains of St. Vincent, the martyr of Saragossa, are brought here from Valencia and a sanctuary (the Church of the Crow) is built to hold the holy bones of the martyr. It quickly became a place of devotion and pilgrimage for many peninsular Christians that came to the Cape to visit São Vicente's grave. The Arabs destroyed the church when they took over the land and later, in 1173, Afonso Henriques had the relics of S. Vicente taken to Lisbon.
The space where the church once stood was used to build a Franciscan convent, known as Convent of the Crow.
In 1508, the Bishop of Silves, D. Fernando Coutinho, has a fortress built to defend the Cape. Within its walls was the Convent of the Crow, where the friars would light bonfires sending smoke signs to the embarkations.
Sir Francis Drake attacks and destroys the convent and the fortress in 1567.
They were subsequently rebuilt but after the expulsion of all religious orders in 1834, the government of D. Maria II orders a lighthouse to be built there.
In 1904, the church and convent disappeared altogether, adapted to the need of the Admiralty.