Lisbon Botanical Garden

Lisbon Botanical Garden – National Museum of Natural History and Science

Conceived in the mid-nineteenth century to complement the teaching and research of botany at the Lisbon Polytechnic School, the Lisbon Botanical Garden covers the slopes of Monte Olivete, where the Jesuit college of Cotovia had already devoted itself to the study of plants between 1609 and 1759. Draft regulations date from 1843, but planting only began in 1873, on the initiative of the Count of Ficalho and Andrade Corvo, both professors at the Polytechnic. The German Edmund Goeze, the first head gardener, laid out the upper part, the 'Classe', while the Frenchman Jules Daveau was responsible for the 'Arboreto' below, with winding paths, terraces, ponds and cascades. In the 1930s and 1940s, under the director Ruy Telles Palhinha, the systematic arrangement of the Classe gave way to ecological groupings. Part of the University of Lisbon's National Museum of Natural History and Science, the garden holds a remarkable collection of palms from every continent, cycads — true living fossils and the garden's emblem — and many species from New Zealand, Australia, China, Japan and South America. Classified as a national monument in 2010, it was restored in 2016 by Lisbon City Council. The Classe is free to enter; the Arboreto requires a ticket, and the former Butterfly House has been replaced by the Garden of the Senses.

Located at: Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência
Address: Rua da Escola Politécnica, 58, 1250-102 Lisboa
Opening hours: Daily: October to March 10:00-17:00; April to September 9:00-20:00 (closed on 25 December and 1 January; last admission half an hour before closing)
Phone: +351 213 921 808
Coordinates: 38.7185344, -9.1488564
Buses: 758, 19B, 773, 22B, 709, 711, 722, 732, 736, 744
Tram: 24E
Metro: Avenida (Blue), Rato (Yellow)
Train: Sintra Line, Rossio Station
Opened: 1873 (153 years)