The Ajuda Botanical Garden (in portuguese, Jardim Botânico de Lisboa)was the pioneer of the kind in Portugal and its origin goes back to the 18th century when the king D. José I ruled. The monarch, that had bought the estate after the big earthquake of , gave to Dr. Domingos Vandelli (an Italian naturalist) the leadership for the construction works of a botanical garden in the . Three years later, the masterpiece was completed and Lisbon had a verdant space with unparalleled features and beauty. It belongs since , to the Unit of Technological Support of the Instituto Superior de Agronomia1.
In the peak of the garden's biodiversity, there were housed nearly 5.000 different species of plants. Currently, the number of plants is above one thousand and exists a Bank of Seed Conservation.
In the museum there are four greenhouses, the Maidenhair Greenhouse, Orchids Greenhouse, D. Luís Greenhouse – used for species reproduction. The Orchids Greenhouse holds the particularity of being semi buried on the ground for a better thermal efficiency.
On the website of the Ajuda Botanical Garden one can find an interesting topic that will which plants are blooming in the current month.
The Jardim Botâncio da Ajuda, comissioned by the Marquês de Pombal, dates from 1768, which makes it the oldest garden in Liboa. Here, many vegetal species by then unknow to the population of Lisboa were planted, having the garden been run by the Royal House until the fall of the monarchy. Presently owned by the Faculdade de Agronomia, it has an intereseting scent garden, for the benefit of blind people.
