Restaurants, bars and museums in Lisbon · Page 187

Jardim Botânico de Lisboa

Príncipe Real

Parks & Gardens

The Jardim Botânico de Lisboa stands at Rua da Escola Politécnica 58, 1250-102 Lisboa, in the Príncipe Real neighbourhood. It forms part of the Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência of the University of Lisbon. The garden covers 4 hectares and holds over 10,000 plants. The entrance is a gate on a busy street, and only at the ticket office does the dense vegetation come into view. The garden was designed in the middle of the nineteenth century as a modern complement to the teaching and research of botany at the Escola Politécnica de Lisboa. Its site on Monte Olivete already had more than two centuries of botanical study behind it, begun by the Jesuit college of Cotovia, which was based there from 1609 to 1759. A draft regulation was prepared in 1843, yet planting only started in 1873, on the initiative of the Conde de Ficalho and Andrade Corvo, both professors at the school. The first gardeners were the German E. Goeze and the Frenchman J. Daveau. Edmund Goeze, the head gardener, outlined the "Classe", while Jules Daveau was responsible for the "Arboreto". Paths, flowerbeds and terraces follow a whimsical layout and are linked by lakes and cascades. The first seed catalogue appeared in 1878. After 1892, Henri Cayeux embellished the garden by introducing and raising ornamental plants. The largest intervention came in the late 1930s and early 1940s under the director Ruy Telles Palhinha, when the original systematic layout of the upper level gave way to groupings of species in ecological sets. The garden was classified as a national monument on 4 November 2010. The Câmara Municipal de Lisboa renewed it in 2016 through the Orçamento Participativo. Palms from every continent give some corners an unexpectedly tropical character. Cycads, described as living fossils, represent ancient floras that have mostly died out. The garden is also rich in tropical species from New Zealand, Australia, China, Japan and South America. The Australian Cycad stands out for its twisting trunks. The butterfly greenhouse is the only one in Europe open to the public. The garden also runs environmental education programmes and themed visits. It opens every day from 09:00 to 20:00, with hours of 09:00 to 17:00 from 1 October to 31 March. Admission is €3.00, with no discount for Lisboa Card holders. The garden is about a 6-minute walk from Rato metro station, the last stop of the yellow line, and tram 24 from Praça Luís de Camões in Chiado stops nearby. Further down the street lie Jardim do Príncipe Real, in the neighbourhood's main square, and the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara.

Venues.