Lisbon Tropical Gardens (Jardim do Ultramar)

Whilst in Lisbon on my honeymoon, we made a beeline for a trip to the sleepy suburb of Belém – a place more well known for its enslaving custard pastries than its forgotten botanical gardens. The afternoon was hot but a recent thunderstorm had caused the humidity to rise. The buildings dripped and a suffocating fog hung in the subdued streets. Looking for solace from the sogginess, we wandered up to the tumbledown gates to the Jardim Do Ultramar (Jardim Agricola Tropical).

The tropical gardens were built in 1906 and over 2500 species from Portugal’s old colonies (many of them very rare) were laid out in the impressive gardens as part of Portugal’s Institute of Tropical Research – now a crumbling grandiose hall at the rear of the gardens. Somewhere along the lines the funding for gardens evaporated (probably after the dictatorship dwindled in the 1970′s) and since then, the exhibits have begun their slow, creeping reprise to reclaim their surrogate habitat. The buildings have suffered too. The impressive glasshouses are dirty, defeated and cracked; the pathways, themed gardens and once-thriving nurseries are eerily overgrown. Staring into the locked hothouses, I saw oblivious Chickens busying themselves amongst the splendid flowering hibiscuses.

The remaining overworked staff must be resigned to the whole operation, but curiously the plants themselves are enjoying the extra freedom, which has encouraged them to flourish beautifully in certain places. With all the humidity, heat and faded imperialistic grandeur, it felt to me as though I had stumbled upon a long lost colonial research centre in the heart of the Brazilian jungle. There is still plenty of life in this place and so if you’re in the area and don’t mind paying to see some curious horticultural dilapidation, then this is really quite something.