Jardim de Carrilho Videira, Porto

One of Porto’s standout landscape designs is contained within this compact garden. Jerónimo Monteiro da Costa created it in 1897, and its plantings include specimens found nowhere else in the city’s gardens. That is a remarkable distinction for such a small place.

Its official name is Jardim de Carrilho Videira, although you may also encounter its earlier name, Jardim do Carregal. The present name commemorates José Carrilho Videira, a campaigner in the republican movement of the late nineteenth century. As you stroll calmly along the paths, notice how the planting creates a quieter pocket within the surrounding city.

This is a romantic garden with a valuable group of conifers, giving it a character quite distinct from a simple square of lawn. There is also a tribute to a major Portuguese intellectual here. In 2009, the garden received a statue of Professor Abel Salazar, sculpted by Hélder Carvalho. The garden lies in Miragaia, in Porto, and it remains accessible around the clock, so you can return when the mood of the light and city suits you.