A refuge in the city's center: Carregal Garden


Porto City has in its essence the charm in every corner. So, it wouldn’t be different that, when you cross one of the Santo António Hospital’s corner, you find a little green area with a small lake in the middle: Carregal Garden.
       
The oficial name Carrilho Vieira Garden in homage to the activist of the republican movement of the late nineteenth century, Carrilho Videira, is located in Porto and was built in 1897 by the landscape gardener Jerónimo Monteiro da Costa. This space was considered one of the bests works of Jerónimo Monteiro da Costa, prominent gardener and horticulturist of the city, since there are some examples of vegetation that can be found in any other garden in Porto.


Although the size of the garden, it has a precious collection of coniferous, different plants of the season that bloom and give colour to the garden and in the middle we can find a lake surrounded by big trees, among which redwoods, a species that is not very common to find in the city. These steal the attention of the garden!

There are two different species of trees that although they belong to California they have adapted very well to Porto’s climate. One of them is the Giant Sequoia that had its history and beauty closed in 2014, when it was slaughtered because it was dead. Knowing the importance of this element for nature, a set of interventions of performative and temporary nature, called “Soft Monuments”, were developed. In addition, by the year 2015, a new Giant Sequoia was planted in the garden. So that it is already possible to see that giant tree. It is also possible to find the know “Sequóia Sempre Verde” (EN: Always Green Sequoia) that because of its height enclosure the garden and make everyone that walk by amazed, even if they don’t grow in a good environment for them.


In addition to the big trees, there are small and colorful flowers that can be found in the gardens extensions, in the middle of many resinous species present there. From grasses to more bushy plants the flowers’ colours enchant the eyes from those who walk by. When you cross the bridge of the small lake that divide the garden it is possible to see the Mallard Ducks, species that occupies almost every aquatic habitat and if you have lucky you can also see the Portugal’s biggest heron on the side of the lake, which is known for its long neck, big size and black feathers around the eyes.

Carregal, although small, amazed those who walk by and look at it even if they are running to their jobs. Visit this that is the last romantic garden of Porto City!

Written by: Marta Costa and Matheus Rabelo
Photos by: Júlia Aguiar
Translated by: Francisca Rehbein

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