October 2021
Calouste Gulbenkian Museum
Born in Istanbul of Armenian parentage, Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (1869–1955) built a huge fortune through oil. He was not an oil baron but a negotiator between companies, and was known as the 5% man, for taking 5% off the top of all his contracts. He amassed an art collection which he kept in a private museum in his home in Paris. An art expert said in a 1950 issue of Life magazine that “Never in modern history has one man owned so much.” Today, most of his art is exhibited at Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. The foundation in Portugal is one of the wealthiest foundations in the world. The museum was established according to his will and there are over 6,000 items in the museum’s collection, and they are truly impressive. I had gone specifically to see an exhibit on Dante, the exhibit woefully disappointed but the garden did not.
The garden surrounds the buildings of the foundation and are the perfect way to simply slow down.
It is hard to project the peacefulness one feels wandering this garden in the center of a bustling city.
The garden was built in the late 1960s, and was designed by landscape architects António Viana Barreto and Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles. Parts of the garden have recently been redesigned by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.
This sculpture, at the entry to the museum, was based on a photograph of Calouste Gulbenkian sitting under a statue of Horus at the Temple of Horus at Edfu.
There was a special exhibit of the artist of the divine stories of Tin Tin, this was at the entry.
Estufa Fria
Please take a close look at the nymph pinching the dolphins nose. I have never seen anything quite like it.
How does one describe Estufa Fria. Today one would simply call it a botanical garden, but there is more to it than that. This was a failed quarry, mainly due to water intrusion. So an unnamed gardener chose to start planting in this spot, a perfect place for his exotic collection of botanical species. Eventually, the plans were for the plants to be transplanted to the Avenida da Liberdade gardens. But, with the onset of World War I, everything was postponed, and the plants began to settle in and the garden was created. The garden has suffered throughout history, but today the park is filled with green houses, hot houses, and even a cold house. Today it also is a venue for public events. If you just desperately need to get away from the madness of Lisbon, this is the place.
I was captivated by a exhibit, of what I assume were children’s creations of Japanese Peace Cranes
In one of the hothouses you can enjoy the cranes with very pleasant music created by Tibetan singing bowls
Gardens of Marquesses of Fronteira
The third garden of my day was attached to the Palace of the Marquesses of Fronteira. The palace was built in 1671 as a hunting pavilion to Dom João de Mascarenhas, 1st Marquis of Fronteira.
The palace is still occupied by the Marquesses of Fronteira and therefore, private. You can tour the home in the morning, I missed that, but the gardens are open all day.
I learned of the gardens because of the azulejos, but that does not come close to describing the garden. Yes, the azulejos are stunning but the structure and design of the garden are to be appreciated as well.
There are two black swans that grace the large rectangular pool, that is also filled with koi
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There is a divine grotto with a pool, while not filled with water on my visit it was easy to imagine what it looked like in its glory. It was adorned all around with tiles of fishing themes.
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On the other side of the wall is more of the garden, this quite obviously done in a far more modern time
Traveling can be taxing, and sometimes, a full day just needs to be spent slowing down. I was fortunate as the rain managed to hold back until I hoped into a cab at my last stop, and then it decided that a full shower was needed. What a delight.
This was a day where I could have posted 100 photos, I hope I chose the best to give you an impression of the gardens, they each deserve a post of their own.