Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra

Category: Historic Garden|World Heritage Site

The Botanical Garden covers more than 13.5 hectares on land donated by Benedictine monks. The garden was created with the aim of complementing the study of Natural History and Medicine at the University of Coimbra. Marquês de Pombal, a major driving force behind its construction in 1773, entrusted the project to the Italians Domingos Vandelli and Dalla Bella, with D. Francisco de Lemos Coutinho as Rector. From the end of the 18th century onwards, the role played by Portuguese botanists and naturalists Félix Avelar Brotero, Júlio Henriques, and Luís Carrisso was particularly noteworthy.

Spread over several levels, stairways, and avenues, it is one of the most renowned botanical gardens in the world, allowing visitors to travel to the four corners of the Earth due to the diversity of plants it contains.

The forest occupies two-thirds of the total area of the garden and consists mainly of exotic trees growing freely and bamboo groves.