Parque do Covelo, Porto

Parque do Covelo transforms a former country estate into an eight-hectare green refuge in Paranhos, in Porto’s north. Its boundaries meet Faria Guimarães, Bolama, Monte de São João and part of Álvaro de Castelões, within an older residential district. The higher ground holds native trees of particular value, including Portuguese oaks, cork oaks, stone pines and maritime pines.

At the lower eastern end, the former manor house stands beside a straight cobbled avenue, lined with benches and trees. Alongside it, a broad lawn falls gently away and is planted with many young trees. The estate was once called Quinta de Paranhos.

A will gave it to Porto City Council and the Ministry of Health for a tuberculosis hospital, but that hospital was never constructed. The council restored the grounds in nineteen eighty-seven and nineteen eighty-eight from a design by architect Castro Calapes. Municipal greenhouses formerly covered the old farmland; after redevelopment, that area became a children’s playground in May two thousand and nine. Porto City Council now runs the entire park for leisure, environmental education and plant production.