Bathed in Beauty By Cristina Castel-Branco
A grant from Norway has allowed ancient water features in gardens across Portugal to be returned to their former splendour.
T
o help gardens survive during the dry months of May to September in Portugal we need to store water. But, when it rains, the intensity of the rainfall creates flash floods that are almost subtropical. The care of water requires a strategic approach, which is evident in historic gardens. In 2006, the Portuguese Association of Historical Gardens and Sites (APJSH) was granted €1 million by EEA Grants (a mechanism of the European Economic Area, mainly financed by Norway). Our submission was specifically for the “Restoration of Gardens’ Hydraulic Systems, Walls and Trails”, and the grant allowed us to reestablish ancient hydraulic systems and to improve other garden structures. The money was awarded over a five-year period for the restoration of twelve historic gardens spread across Portugal,
Issue 37
HISTORIC GARDENS Review
including its Atlantic islands of the Azores and Madeira. The sites selected were representative of Portugal’s landscape art from the 14th to the 19th centuries and contained hydraulic structures really worthy of restoration. In the majority of the gardens, technical teams came across water-collection systems that were no longer operational or not working properly. This had led to a waste of natural resources and to higher costs due to the consumption of commercially supplied water. The twelve gardens were assigned a project director, affiliated to APJSH, who was a landscape architect experienced in restoration. The teams were coordinated by me (as APJSH President) and managed by Isabel Andrade. This article will concentrate on the two most expensive sites: the Fronteira gardens in Lisbon and the Hotel Quinta das Lágrimas in Coimbra, 200km (125 miles) north of the capital. 11
