Jardim de São Pedro de Alcântara, Lisbon

Jardim de São Pedro de Alcântara is a public garden arranged on two terraces and built in 1864. Its designer was José Luís Monteiro. The site began with a far grander plan: a 20-metre retaining wall was intended to support a monumental water reservoir that would extend Lisbon’s aqueduct.

After the 1755 earthquake, the land served as a dumping place for dead animals thrown from the wall. Today, the balustrade carries a tiled map that helps you identify landmarks across Lisbon, while the lookout opens towards the Baixa and the south bank of the Tagus. The small lake adds another focal point. Within the garden, a 1904 monument by Costa Motta represents Eduardo Coelho, founder of Diário de Notícias; beneath him, a newspaper boy proclaims the paper.