Cold Greenhouse of Lisbon

In the 19^th century, the Parque Eduardo VII¹ – homage to the monarch of the United Kingdom – where is situated the Cold Greenhouse of Lisbon (in portuguese, Estufa Fria de Lisboa), was a quarry from which basalt was extracted. It seems incredible, but in the same way that water nourishes plants, it was water the fed the shutdown of the quarry, being the predecessor of a place full of verdant beauty in the present. Therefore, we make a special mention to the, unknown by many, Ribeira de Valverde²! It descended the Vale Verde³ or Vale de Santo Antão⁴, today, the Parque Eduardo VII¹, passing by the roundabout of Marquês de Pombal⁵ and following along the Avenida da Liberdade⁶.

In 1912, an anonymous gardener decided to start at this very same place the creation of a space that would assemble plant species from the four corners of the world. However, is built only in 1930, four years after being conjectured by the architect Raul Carapinha. In the year 1933, takes place the inauguration and the Cold Greenhouse of Lisbon opens doors to the general public.

The greenhouse is divided into five different areas, the Cold Greenhouse, Hot Greenhouse, Sweet Greenhouse, Exterior Lake and "Nave", a large building with ten domes.

The Cold Greenhouse, named like this due to its natural temperature, houses plants from several countries from Brazil to China!

In the Hot Greenhouse, are cultivated plants that need environments with higher temperatures to thrive, such as, the banana tree or the mango tree.

Ironically, the Sweet Greenhouse is destined to receive plants of the family Cactaceae, in other words, the cactus whose touch is all but sweet! On another side, the Exterior Lake grants the cold greenhouse a bucolic and refreshing character, and the "Nave" is used for events organized by a company.

Translation references

1. Park Eduard VII
2. Valverde Stream
3. Verde Valley
4. Valley of Santo Antão
5. Marquis of Pombal
6. Liberdade Avenue