Only when we exited the Tropical Botanical Garden of Lisbon did we realize five hours have passed without even noticing. Moreover, five hours of walking with a newborn baby!! There must be something about this garden! 🙂
The Tropical Botanical Garden was created in 1906 on a hill in the Belem area, first under the name of the Colonial Garden, with the aim to teach Tropical Agronomy. With a collection of more than 600 species from tropical and sub-tropical regions, it revives a memory of the Portuguese discoveries.
As we love plants, it was a chance to enrich our knowledge about botany. One can suddenly have a breath of fresh air from the city buzz and discover a retreat to read, walk, spend a quiet afternoon in the company of the flowers and the plants – you can call it meditation.
Luckily, inside the garden’s Palace (Palácio dos Condes da Calheta) we caught a wonderful exposition by MUDE (10 March – 15 July) called, Tanto Mar – Fluxos transatlânticos do design, highlighting the connection between Portugal and Brazil through cultural symbols of identity, like tiles, wood, textiles, cork… Hope you also got the chance to see it!
Although it seems abandoned here and there and with lack of maintenance, the garden kept its magic and enchantment, like in its stupendous greenhouse with species from the five continents or the tea and coffee greenhouses you can peek at. Rumours has it they intend to restore the garden this year. Fingers crossed, because it is really a green pearl in Lisbon throughly worth seeing.
