Elaborate designs of blue and white Portuguese tiles adorn the walls of this garden.
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Music by Jason Shaw at AudionautiX
Featured image courtesy of Condé Nast Traveler
Transcript
Hello Listeners,
Today is February 2, and this is A Garden A Day with Mædunbroc Gardens.
Thank you for being here.
Happy Groundhog Day. I’m publishing this episode early in the morning before Punxatawney Phil crawls out of his hovel, so I don’t know what the little guy is predicting, but I predict spring will arrive somewhere around March 20. What do you think? What’s your prediction?
Today’s garden has been described as a magical paradise and is classified as a national monument. This is a garden where romance meets art. A garden where statues of the gods mingle with scenes of daily life.
Where are we? Today, we are exploring Fronteira Palace in Lisbon, Portugal.
A fine example of baroque architecture, Fronteira Palace combines influences from the Italian Renaissance blended with Mannerist and Baroque styles with the added flare of Portuguese-inspired blue and white tiles, called azulejo.
Fronteira Palace has the second largest collection of azulejo tiles preserved in situ — the first being the National Tile Museum in Lisbon. The tiles figure prominently in the gardens as well as in the interior of the palace and show scenes of daily life, hunting, battles, classical mythology, legendary figures, and Portuguese history. There is even a tile or two that shows a monkey playing a trumpet.
The Palace was built between 1665 and 1673 for João de Mascarenhas, the first Marquess of Fronteira. It was built as a hunting pavilion or summer home but became the family home after an earthquake in 1755 destroyed their home in the city.
The palace is still privately owned by the Marquesses de Fronteira. It is the official residence of the family, and they do still live there.
Guided tours are available of the home and the gardens. Certain areas of the home are not part of the tour as they remain the private quarters of the family. Two tours are available each day in winter and four in summer, so it is advisable to plan ahead.
The gardens span a little more than 12 acres and include ornate staircases and elevated terraces that give a different perspective to the gardens. Statues of characters straight out of mythology adorn each garden and tie the past to the present.
The Grand Garden with symmetrical trimmed hedges in geometric designs represents the four seasons. The garden is laid out in a cruciform pattern with a fountain in the center. Each quadrant of the garden is bordered by clipped boxwood with roses planted within the quadrants. The garden is complemented by statues of characters out of mythology.
To the south is the Lake of Knights, a manmade pool, enclosed by a wall of blue and white tiles depicting members of the Mascarenhas family on horseback.
Stairways on either side of the lake lead to the impressive Galleria dos Reis or Gallery of Kings which includes busts of all the kings of Portugal — and a queen — up to the year 1800, but it interestingly does not include the three Spanish kings who reigned in Portugal from 1580-1640. The Gallery of Kings is adorned with tiles on every available surface.
The Venus garden includes a fountain and statue of the goddess surrounded by lush greenery. Brazilian pine and jacaranda trees provide shade to the formal boxwood parterres providing comfort from the summer heat.
A garden grotto called Casa do Fresco stuns with ornate stone, porcelain, and shell decorations on its walls. The Chinese blue and white porcelain came from the palace’s inaugural dinner attended by the future King John IV while he was prince regent.
By tradition, the porcelain used to serve the king could not be used again, so after the dinner, the marquess had the porcelain smashed and included the broken pieces in the design of the grotto. The grotto includes a pool with curved benches adorned with more tiles. The grotto was possibly designed to provide another opportunity for a cooling refuge from the summer heat.
Above the Venus Garden sits the Tanque dos Pretos where a series of ten niches hold sculptures representing minor gods from ancient mythology. There is also a swimming pool in this garden.
The Chapel Terrace includes a small, private space for prayer. It overlooks the Venus Garden and is lined with Judas trees.
Seven statues of the gods of the planets — The moon (Diana), Mercury, Venus, the sun (Apollo), Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn can be found in niches also adorned with blue and white tiles.
The Galeria das Artes is another tile terrace created in 1670 featuring female figures representing poetry and the seven liberal arts of the classical world — grammar, arithmetic, music, logic, rhetoric, geometry and astronomy. Marble life-size statues of pagan gods are placed in niches with busts of Roman Emperors in medallions above.
The gardens made their film debut in 1969 in the James Bond film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Today, Fronteira Palace is a popular spot for tourists.
Cultural programs are hosted at the palace throughout the year. Activities such as concerts, poetry recitals, a book club, and classes linked to the Humanities and Arts provide welcome opportunities for learning to the community.
Well, that’s about it for today.
Thank you so much for listening. Join me tomorrow to find out where we are going next. I release a new episode every single day.
If you like A Garden a Day, and I hope you do, please consider liking, subscribing, and telling your friends. If you are able, please also consider giving us a five-star review. It lets me know you like the show, and it also helps others find the podcast. I really appreciate your support.
If all goes well, I will be right back here tomorrow. See you then!
To learn more about the gardens at Fronteira Palace, check out these links:
https://fronteira-alorna.pt/en/fronteira-palace/
https://www.visitlisboa.com/en/places/fronteira-palace
https://www.lisbonportugaltourism.com/guide/fronteira-palace.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_the_Marquises_of_Fronteira
https://www.lisbonlux.com/magazine/lisbons-10-most-beautiful-palaces/
https://www.portugal.com/location/palace-of-the-marquesses-of-fronteira/
https://www.golisbon.com/sight-seeing/fronteira-palace.html
https://madaboutlisbon.com/fronteira_palace.html
https://www.portugalvisitor.com/portugal-attractions/palacio-marqueses-fronteira
https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;BAR;pt;Mon11;24;en
https://lvbmag.wpcomstaging.com/2016/08/09/fronteira-palace-gardens-lisbon-the-black-swan/
https://ericeirafamilyadventures.com/palaces-in-portugal/
https://baixahouse.com/en/lisbon-guide/gardens/fronteira-alorna/
https://www.cntraveler.com/activities/lisbon/palacio-dos-marqueses-de-fronteira
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