A few months ago I found out Lisbon's City Museum hides a little secret...take my hand and I'll lead you to a hidden magic garden!
When you enter Museu da Cidade in Lisbon, you can go upstairs to visit the exhibition about the history of the city or you can stroll around in the beautiful gardens. I visited the garden last time in a sunny Autumn day and loved the atmosphere.
The garden has many statues that were taken from several locations in the city in order to preserve them. The most known one is Eça de Queiroz’s statue, my favorite Portuguese writer.
While wandering around, you’ll probably find yourself chasing the beautiful peacocks with your cameras and for a second you may get lost…
…and that’s when you’ll find a mysterious cat standing on a wall. Next to it, you’ll see a gate. You can enter, have no fear – the snake won’t bite you.
You have just entered a magic little garden. Story tale creatures start to appear before your eyes as you wander. Some are hiding in the bushes, hanging on trees, camouflaged in the walls…can you find them all?
This garden is called “Jardim Bordallo Pinheiro”, after the 18th century artist that conceived these creatures, Rafaelo Bordallo Pinheiro. In 2009, a group of people, including the artist Joana Vasconcelos got involved in this project of bringing Bordallo Pinheiro’s ceramic creatures back to life, using the old molds found in his factory.
The result is this lovely magic garden that I can’t wait to shoot again!
1 comment
sorrilha
Bolas..tenho que lá ir!!!