The Lisbon Botanical Garden/O Jardim Botânico de Lisboa

The Botanical Garden in Lisbon is one of its overlooked wonders. First, what it is not: It isn't Kew Gardens or the Washington Park Arboretum, and it isn't Central Park. I call it a wonder because of the atmosphere of the place.

It was built between 1873 and 1878 by a Lisbon university, and walking through it today you enter into a sort of timewarp, in which you feel as though you are walking through an estate from the turn of the century that has been long abandoned to nature. The plant specimens are still there, and the buildings are still there, but it seems as though nothing has been updated, or even used, in 50+ years. It's quite a charming effect, if also a bit eerie. The following pictures were taken on a quiet, empty weekday at the beginning of January. To any plant buffs, I apologize for not memorizing all the species I photographed. You'll just have to come look for yourself.

Large trees line a path near the entrance:

A couple of flower close-ups:

A fountain containing various aquatic plants. The fountain wasn't actually working, so it was just a pond. In the background you can see one of the abandoned buildings. It used to be a meteorological station and planetarium, apparently...

I had never seen an actual pomegranate tree before seeing this one. It was surprisingly frail despite producing such heavy fruit.

Ubiquitous in Lisbon's parks are these birds. They're roughly robin-sized, and tend to run along the ground in the same way robins do. They also seem to hate holding still, so I managed to get this bird as it was getting a drink of water from the fountain pond.

The garden sits on a hill, and it has distinctive areas. A more formal, landscaped area at the top (where the previous photos have all been taken) and a wilder area with large, shady trees below, running down the hill. The only way between areas is this stairway/path.

Looking up from that walkway towards the tops of the large palm trees looming overhead:

From huge to miniscule - on a large palm leaf I spotted this tiny insect. I include it because I'm just impressed with myself that I managed to capture a quality image of such a tiny thing. Although, it is actually pretty cool looking.

There is a little plot devoted to plants from arid climates, which contained the following two flowers. This first one reminds me of shooting stars.

More flowers from the wooded section, a giant fungus, plus the bamboo tunnel.

Finally, my biggest personal triumph of this visit. There were several birds in the garden that resembled flickers. They were crow-sized, light brown, and pretty drab except for their wings. When they flew, their wings revealed a black and white pattern with a flash of iridescent blue. They also made a lot of chattering noise. They were extremely skittish, however, and wouldn't let people get anywhere near them. I managed a few photos that turned out half-decent (and a lot of worthless blurs). When we went back to the garden a second time about a month or so later, there was no evidence of these birds. So I don't know if they were just hiding (it was more crowded when we came back) or if they were migrating. Anyway, this photo is the best one I got, and as I said, I'm proud of myself for managing to get such a good shot where the bird is clearly visible.

There isn't a very good official page for the garden, so here's a link to what exists in that regard, plus a blurb from the World Monuments Fund about the garden.

Official Page

World Monuments Fund blurb