Tropical garden of monte palace in portugal. NB-Garden

America

Tropical Garden, located on Mount Monte in Funchal - perhaps one of the most famous tourist destinations in
island. In general, Madeira is exceptionally rich in its parks and gardens, but even some of them cannot be bypassed.
it seemed possible - they chose the Jardim Tropical Monte Palace at random and never regretted it.

The garden is located on the top of Mount Monte, the slopes of which are densely built up with the city houses of Funchal. Simplest
the way to get there is to use the funicular, the station of which is located on the waterfront, not far from the center.
The line with a length of just over 3700 meters passes over the entire city and in itself is very good
fifteen minute ride. Actually, I got so carried away shooting the city from a bird's eye view that I completely
planted the batteries before we even got there. In general, during a walk in the garden, periodically
removing the batteries and performing various shamanistic actions with them, we managed to make a couple of dozen shots.

In general, having accidentally looked (already upon returning home) to the booklet that we were given along with the tickets, we
were surprised to find that there was not only an excellent map of the territory, but also different routes were given -
organized by interest. For example, a route for those interested in flora and fauna. Or a route for those interested
history and art. Or combined - including both the first and second. Of course, all to varying degrees.
saturation and with different transit times. We wandered there completely randomly for a couple of hours, by accident
choosing turns, and it seems that most of them were able to see. Although, judging by the same map, something is still
missed.

2.

Personally, I was generally very pleased with the eclecticism of the cultural part of the route. In addition to traditional Portuguese
ceramics in the Tropical Garden, a very good collection of African sculptures was found - partly along the paths and
in the form of a rather impressive exhibition in the museum building. However, the battery charge was not enough for the museum itself.

3.

From the entrance to the garden to the central pond there is such a path, with ceramic panels, in pictures telling about
heroic Portuguese history. However, we immediately turned into a thicket - it was more interesting to wander through a more lively
parts of the garden, and here, as we noticed, pensioners are mostly flanking.

4.

The history of Portugal on ceramic panels looks like a colorful comic - even without knowing the language, it becomes so
it is clear who gave birth to whom, who poisoned whom, or stabbed whom, who conquered whom, and who ended up burying whom.

5.

In addition to African motifs and historical comics, some paths are decorated with works made in
the traditional Portuguese technique of painting on ceramics - azulejos.

6.

Here is one of them - close-up.

7.

Another corner is near the museum. Abstractionism coexists with antiquity.

8.

As far as flora goes, March doesn't seem to be the best month to visit - although Madeira is rightfully
called flower island, early spring blooming plant unit. But we did see something.

9.

The park also comes across small pools with aquatic plants.

10.

Or dense thickets of bamboo - mainly in the Japanese part of the garden.

11,

I was especially pleased with the peacocks, which quite calmly walk next to the pavilion of the four elements. Ibid
you can admire other birds, but the rest are not kept so freely - they sit together in a large cage.

12.

One of the fountains in the garden. The fish look especially colorful (or who do the babies sit on?).

13.

Monte Palace itself - in the history of its existence, the building managed to change many owners, at this
At the moment here is the Berardo Foundation - an organization that is dedicated to the conservation and development of the garden.

14.

View of the palace from the observation deck.

15.

View of the city from the same observation deck in front of the palace. Far below you can see the port and the central part
Funchal, and the wonderful pagoda in the frame is part of the South Japanese Garden.

16.

Wall on the territory of the Northern Japanese Garden. The tablets depict the history of Japanese-Portuguese relations.

17.

Another fragment of Japan - statues of samurai. In general, the abundance of Japanese elements in the design is due
personal passions of the founding father - Joe Bernard. He was so fascinated by Eastern culture that he tried
recreate the appropriate atmosphere when creating this garden.

18.

One of the most replicated images of Madeira is the photographs of the Central Lake. It is surrounded on all sides
walking paths and is visible from almost anywhere in the garden. In general, here we had an extra reason
be glad that we arrived in the off season - because the visitors could be counted on the fingers and no one interfered
take pictures. I suspect that in the height of summer there is no crowding near the lake.

Tropical Gardens of Monte Palace or "Jardim Tropical Monte Palace", located on the green and ever-flowering Portuguese island of Madeira, in the island capital - the resort town of Funchal. "Monte Palace Tropical Gardens" stand on top of the hill of the same name, from where travelers have stunning views of the Atlantic Bay of Funchal.

The tropical garden hides its main attraction - the beautiful Monte Palace, built in the eighteenth century by the then owner of the island - the English consul Charles Murray, in fact, even before the foundation of the gardens. He named his estate "Quinta do Prazer" or "Quinta do Prazer". Soon it was bought by Alfred Guillermo Rodrigues, who decided to reconstruct the palace, giving it the style that inspired him. The mansion was later remodeled to house the chic Monte Palace Hotel, which has long been a popular holiday destination for many celebrities visiting the island of Madeira. Since 1987, the palace was bought by businessman José Manuel Rodrigues Berardo, who decided to set up the "Monte Tropical Garden" here at the Monte Palace Tropical Garden. Now the mansion houses an interesting museum with wonderful sculptures and an impressive collection of minerals. The Berardo Foundation located here is engaged in the preservation and development of the garden and the Monte Palace.

The park, as well as the palace, was constantly improved, it was planted with new types of trees and plants. Today, all tourists are amazed by the local diversity of flora, and in the Tropical Garden you can find the rarest and uncharacteristic plants for this region: heather from Scotland, laurels from the Canary Islands, azaleas from Belgium, as well as tropical ferns and cedars of Lebanon. Two artificial lakes were laid out on the territory of the park, where numerous Japanese carps and waterfowl live: ducks, white and black swans. Handsome peacocks leisurely and fearlessly walk around the garden area and fighting Indonesian roosters pace. Stunning landscapes are complemented by magnificent marble sculptures, gazebos, benches, unusual and very picturesque stones, graceful lanterns, mysterious niches, oriental pagodas, Buddha figures. There is a rich collection of traditional Portuguese ceramic tiles - "azulejos", fifteenth - twentieth centuries. On ceramic panels, one can clearly trace the history of Portugal and the glorious deeds of its famous historical figures. Everything is told in pictures, so that tourists who do not speak Portuguese can easily understand everything without words.

Tourists are very fond of climbing to the observation deck of the palace, located six hundred meters above sea level, from where they admire the Atlantic Ocean and the capital of Madeira. If you are going on an excursion to enjoy a pleasant walk through the gardens, you should take a windbreaker with you, because it is quite cool in the mountains and it often rains.

These gardens are laid out on the high mountain Monte, the easiest way to get to them is by climbing the cable car, 3,700 meters long. The advantage of using the funicular is the opportunity, at the same time, to enjoy the enchanting views of the city of Funchal, located on the Atlantic Ocean, as well as admire the amazing Maderian nature. The cable car station is located on the embankment, a few meters from the city center. The climb to the Monte Tropical Gardens is fifteen minutes. You will climb to the highest point of these gardens. By the way, in the park area there is a cafe and a souvenir shop. In addition, be sure to save your ticket, because all tourists who show it in a small shop, to the right of the cable car, are offered a free tasting of excellent Madeira wines and liqueurs. At the box office, in addition to tickets, you will be given a booklet with a detailed map of the Monte Tropical Gardens territory with different routes that are divided by interests: “a route for tourists interested in flora and fauna”; "a route for lovers of history and art"; "combined route", where there is everything at once. It is preferable to buy a ticket to Monte Tropical Gardens at the funicular ticket office, it is more profitable to take it right away - both there and back, so the price will be less due to the discount - twenty-three euros seventy cents for an adult ticket. You can also get to the Monte Gardens by bus, sitting at a stop near the central market of Funchal on routes No. 20, 21, 22, as well as from the areas of Sao Martino and Lido on route No. 48. The price of a bus ticket is two euros. From the territory of the gardens, you can go down on authentic wicker sledges, which are pushed by two drivers right along the asphalt polished almost to a shine. Of course, you will have to pay for this - thirty-five euros.

The Monte Tropical Garden is open from half past ten in the morning until six in the evening, and the museum at the Monte Palace is open from ten to half past five in the evening. Please note that the last funicular leaves the gardens down at seventeen forty, twenty minutes before the park closes. About fifteen minutes later, the last taxis leave, and Mount Monte is empty. But you can go down by bus or go on foot, at the same time, admiring the nearby chapel and church.

At the top of Mount Monte above the city of Funchal stands a white three-story building surrounded by an exotic park. This is the Tropical Garden, Monte Palace and Museum. The harmonious beauty of the charming corner of Madeira has been created by several generations of its owners. Many consider these gardens to be the most beautiful on the island.

Jardim Tropical Monte Palace is located at an altitude of 550 m above sea level: a magnificent park of 7 hectares extends in steps along the slope of Monte. From the center of Funchal, a bus is laid here.

Oriental Gardens

The last owner of the estate, Jose Berardo, traveling around Japan and China, was fascinated by the original culture of these countries. Based on his impressions, he created the East Garden in the northern part of the park. Buddhist statues are installed here, Chinese lanterns are burning, benches and pavilions are stylized as pagodas. Palm trees, bamboo and ferns grow; reservoirs with a complex water purification system, with islands, waterfalls, and decorative bridges are equipped. The artificial ponds are home to colorful Koi.

central lake

View of the central lake (photo: sgplewka)

Australian black and Scandinavian white swans swim on the central lake, ducks and gray herons live. Peacocks walk along the garden paths, chickens of rare breeds roam. Most of the park is given over to the endemic flora of Madeira. Here grow dragon trees, euphorbia piscatoria, colorful orchids. The unique Madeira pigeon lives in the laurel thickets. The pride of the park's botanical collection is rare cycads brought from South Africa.

Azulejo pottery

In the garden of Monte, a large fund of azulejo ceramics has been collected. White-and-blue panels, stone arches and other architectural elements are located along the paths, set among the plants. This is the most important Portuguese collection: here are samples of ceramic artifacts of the 15th-20th centuries, including the plot panel "History of Portugal" by Alberto Cedron.

The sculptural collection exhibited in the garden includes marble statues of the 18th century, late medieval stone coats of arms, an antique bust of Emperor Hadrian, a collection of modern bronze sculptures by James Butler.

Monte Palace Museum

Monte Palace Museum is a modern exhibition space. On the lower level of the building, a collection of Mother Nature's Secrets minerals from Africa, North America, Argentina, and Latin American countries is exhibited. The stones are presented at expositions that imitate the natural environment and outer space. The collection of precious minerals attracts special attention.

On the top two floors there is an exhibition of "African passions" - a collection of stone sculpture from Zimbabwe (1966-69). The museum has a collection of 2,500 African statues acquired by José Berardo in 1981.

Cafe and lookout

Terrace overlooking Funchal (photo: Pascal Kestemont)

While walking through the park, do not miss the cafe located at the very bottom of the garden. Nearby there is a small terrace overlooking the city and the ocean. In the cafe itself, you can try Madeira wine for free.

History of the estate

Monte Palace (photo: Emmanuel PARENT)

The history of Monte Manor began in the 18th century. An Englishman, Consul Charles Murray, having bought land to the south of the local church, founded the estate. In the 19th century, the new owner, Alfredo Guilherme Rodrigues, built a residence palace on the hill, modeled on the Rhine castles. He surrounded the building with a beautiful park and soon opened a hotel. The romantic resort residence "Monte Palace" began to attract Maderians and foreign guests. The place was cozy, secluded; from the hill there were spectacular views of Funchal Bay, the surrounding mountains and the city.

After Alfredo's death, the heirs did not want to take care of the hotel. In 1943 they handed over the property to the financial institution of Funchal. Since 1987, businessman Jose Rodrigues Berardo has become the new owner of the Monte estate. From that moment began the second life of the abandoned estate.

Berardo opened his own fund, created the conditions for reconstruction by inviting famous architects and designers. He and his wife Karolina put a lot of effort into restoring the romantic oasis. The Monte Gardens have been derelict since 1945. During the reconstruction, they were filled with exotic flora: Belgian azaleas and Scottish heather, South African cycads, and proteas. A zone of relict forests Laurisilva was created: ferns, laurels, flowering herbaceous plants.

The Berardo Foundation operates in the building of the Monte Palace. The budget of the organization today is about 125 million euros. The founder hopes that his work will continue and the magnificent Monte Garden will never be abandoned again.

Opening hours and ticket prices:

The garden and museum welcome guests every day except Christmas (December 25).
The garden is open from 09:30 to 18:00, the museum is open from 10:00 to 16:30. The palace building is not accessible to the public!

Ticket prices:

adult – €12.50
children (0 - 14 years old, accompanied by adults) - free of charge

The ticket price includes admission to the museum and tropical garden, adults can also try a free sample of Madeira wine.

How to get from Funchal to Monte Tropical Garden?

1. Funchal-Monte cable car

The fastest (15 min.) and spectacular way to the Monte Garden is. Its lower station is located on the embankment. Here is the point. Prices:

2. Bus

From the center of the capital, from the stops Rua Artur Sousa Pinga and Rua 31 Janeiro, S, there are buses 20, 21 and 22. The journey will take about 20 minutes. Get off at Largo da Fonte - for buses 20 and 21 or Babosas - for bus 22.

From the hotel area of Funchal (Formosa beach, Lido area) you can get to the tropical garden by bus 48. You will have to drive for 40 minutes, get off at the stop - Largo da Fonte.

The cost of one trip when buying on the bus is €1.95. If you plan to travel around the city by bus, then it is better to purchase a GIRO card. One journey will cost €1.35 on it.

How do I save on hotels?

Everything is very simple - look not only on booking.com. I prefer the RoomGuru search engine. He searches for discounts simultaneously on Booking and 70 other booking sites.

The Tropical Garden, located on Mount Monte in Funchal, is perhaps one of the most famous tourist spots on the island. In general, Madeira is exceptionally rich in its parks and gardens, but it was not possible to get around at least some of them - they chose the Jardim Tropical Monte Palace at random and never regretted it.

The garden is located on the top of Mount Monte, the slopes of which are densely built up with the city houses of Funchal. The easiest way to get there is to use the funicular, the station of which is located on the waterfront, not far from the center. The line, a little over 3,700 meters long, runs over the entire city and in itself is a very good fifteen-minute attraction. In fact, I was so engrossed in capturing the city from a bird's eye view that I completely ran out of batteries before we even got there. In general, while walking through the garden, periodically removing the batteries and performing various shamanistic actions with them, we managed to take a couple of dozen shots.

In general, accidentally looking (already on returning home) into the booklet that we were given along with the tickets, we were surprised to find that there was not only an excellent map of the territory, but also different routes were given - compiled according to interests. For example, a route for those interested in flora and fauna. Or a route for those interested in history and art. Or combined - including both the first and second. Of course, everything is of varying degrees of saturation and with different transit times. We wandered there quite haphazardly for a couple of hours, randomly choosing turns, and it seems that we were able to see most of it. Although, judging by the same map, something still missed.

Personally, I was generally very pleased with the eclecticism of the cultural part of the route. In addition to the traditional Portuguese ceramics, the Tropical Garden has a very good collection of African sculptures - partly along the paths and in the form of a rather impressive display in the museum building. However, the battery charge was not enough for the museum itself.

African sculptures

Walkway from the entrance

History of Portugal

From the entrance to the garden to the central pond there is such a path, with ceramic panels, in pictures telling about the heroic Portuguese history. However, we immediately turned into the thickets - it was more interesting to wander around the more lively part of the garden, and here, as we noticed, pensioners are mostly flanking.

The history of Portugal on ceramic panels looks like a colorful comic - even without knowing the language, it becomes clear who gave birth to whom, who poisoned whom, or stabbed whom, who conquered whom, and who ended up burying whom.

In addition to African motifs and historical comics, some paths are decorated with works made in the traditional Portuguese technique of painting on ceramics - azulejos.

Azulejo pottery painting

Close-up

Abstract art and antiquity

Here is one of them - close-up. Another corner is near the museum. Abstractionism coexists with antiquity.

As for the flora, March, apparently, is not the best month for visiting - although Madeira is rightfully called the flower island, there are very few flowering plants in early spring. But we did see something. The park also comes across small pools with aquatic plants.

Flowering plant

thickets of bamboo

Pleased with peacocks

Or dense thickets of bamboo - mainly in the Japanese part of the garden.

I was especially pleased with the peacocks, which quite calmly walk next to the pavilion of the four elements. You can also admire other birds there, but the rest are not kept so freely - they sit together in a large cage.

One of the fountains in the garden. The fish look especially colorful (or who do the babies sit on?).

One of the fountains

Monte Palace

view of the palace

Actually, the Monte Palace itself - over the history of its existence, the building has managed to change many owners, at the moment there is the Berardo Foundation - an organization that is engaged in the preservation and development of the garden.

View of the palace from the observation deck. View of the city from the same observation deck in front of the palace. Far below you can see the port and the central part of Funchal, and the wonderful pagoda in the frame is part of the South Japanese Garden.

city view

Northern Japanese Garden

Samurai statues

Wall on the territory of the Northern Japanese Garden. The tablets depict the history of Japanese-Portuguese relations.

Another fragment of Japan - statues of samurai. In general, the abundance of Japanese elements in the design is due to the personal preferences of the founding father, Joe Bernard. He was so fascinated by oriental culture that he tried to recreate the appropriate atmosphere when creating this garden.

5.

In addition to African motifs and historical comics, some paths are decorated with works made in
the traditional Portuguese technique of painting on ceramics - azulejos.

6.

Here is one of them - close-up.

7.

Another corner is near the museum. Abstractionism coexists with antiquity.

8.

As far as flora goes, March doesn't seem to be the best month to visit - although Madeira is rightfully
called flower island, early spring blooming plant unit. But we did see something.

9.

The park also comes across small pools with aquatic plants.

10.

Or dense thickets of bamboo - mainly in the Japanese part of the garden.

12.

One of the fountains in the garden. The fish look especially colorful (or who do the babies sit on?).

14.

View of the palace from the observation deck.

16.

Wall on the territory of the Northern Japanese Garden. The tablets depict the history of Japanese-Portuguese relations.

19.

The same lake from the other side.

20.

Again, the lake, view from above, from one of the galleries. In the background is Monte Palace.

21.

While walking in the garden, we found several cool grottoes. I suspect that in the heat - places for short
stops are absolutely indispensable, because inside it is cold and damp. In one of the grottoes they noticed a long tunnel,
lost somewhere far away in the dark, but the grate prevented him from making an underground journey. Yes, we are on the levadas
also noticed that such obstacles appear quite suddenly and in the most interesting place.

Unfortunately, most of what we saw there remained behind the scenes, but even so, perhaps, we can make
some impression. For those who suddenly find themselves in Madeira, I strongly recommend visiting the Tropical Garden,
Definitely one of the most picturesque places on the island.