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Avenidas Novas · Parks & Gardens

Parque Eduardo VII lies in the Avenidas Novas neighbourhood of Lisbon. Its address is given as Pq. Eduardo VII, beside Praça do Marquês de Pombal, and some people call it Parque Eduardo Sete. It is described as the largest public park in central Lisbon. It climbs a steep hill directly behind the praça, and one description calls it the city's green geometric spine and a premier vantage point. The park carries the name of King Edward VII. A terrace at the northern end looks across clipped box hedging, down to the city and the Tagus. On the eastern side stands the Carlos Lopes Pavilion. It was built for the 1922 World Expo in Brazil and moved to Lisbon in 1932. The park took the form seen today during the 1940s. The western side holds the Estufa Fria, which is sunken into a former basalt quarry. From the path above, the roof shows beyond the railings. One visitor likened it to an enormous roller-skate rink. The main entrance sits beside a lake, and that visitor, being over 65, paid €1.55. In the late nineteenth century the site was a basalt quarry. A gardener who saw how well plants grew there gathered species in one of its hollows, meaning to replant Avenida da Liberdade and the park. The First World War upset those plans. In 1926 an architect began the project that gave the plants a proper home, and the Estufa Fria officially opened in 1933. The Estufa Fria uses no heating. A slatted roof covers it, with gaps open to the outdoors, and it spans over 8,000 m². The planting includes tree ferns, rhododendrons, camellias, bananas, colocasias and strelitzias. One source counts more than 300 species growing here through the year. Pools, statuary and arches line winding gravel paths and stone steps. A lake has a monumental fountain. The sculptures include a girl pulling on a sock by Leopoldo de Almeida and a seated female figure by Anjos Teixeira. Two glass-roofed sections lie against the quarry's back wall. The Estufa Quente holds coffee plants and mango trees, and the Estufa Doce holds cacti and other succulents. Together the three houses cover some 11,500 m². The park is also where a Winedering van tour of Lisbon begins. The tour lasts about two hours and is priced at €55 for adults. It takes two to seven guests, in English or Português, and runs on Fridays at 10:00 and 15:00. Free cancellation runs until two days before the start. After the park, the route moves on to Avenida da Liberdade, the National Pantheon and Sé de Lisboa, and ends with a glass of wine and a pastel de nata.