Gulbenkian Garden

A gem of the modernist gardens, both in Portugal and the world

21 27/28 May

10:00 — 18:00

Avenida de Berna 45

* Self-guided visit

Pets are not allowed.
The access is limited, on a first-come, first-served basis, without prior registration.
This is an entirely free event.

This garden is open daily and can be visited independently of the festival's programme.

This beautiful garden serves as a frame to the buildings of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, constructed in the 1960s.

It was designed by the landscape architects Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles and António Vianna Barreto, and it was developed around the buildings and the lake — in a mastery of the shapes and colours of the species present. There are areas with lawn and shade, winding paths on the large cement slabs, and the whole place flows and emphasizes one of the core ideas behind this garden: “a very strong dialogue between Man and Nature”.

There you will find fine and tall specimens of the Populus nigra var. italica, which contrast with the horizontal water mirror provided by the lake.

Related activities

21

11:00

Families

Creative Botanical Printing Workshop

The Gulbenkian Gardens embody the happy meeting between their masterful designers and the natural shapes and colours of the plant species that give them form, set between buildings that live and breathe Art. The first botanical prints were found in Ancient Greece and used to illustrate plants in pharmacological manuals. In the Renaissance, a manuscript by Leonardo da Vinci contained a print from a salvia leaf alongside instructions on botanical printing. With time, this technique was refined and began to incorporate the use of colour. This activity encourages you to use the technique of botanical printing to make designs on paper from some of the plants found in the Gulbenkian Garden.

Conducted by: Dália Lourenço
Location: Gulbenkian Garden
Meeting Point: Edifício Sede entrance

For all ages
Capacity: 24 people (minimum participation of 6 people)
Duration: 45 minutes

Registration: free entry with ticket collection on the same day

* Each family can purchase a maximum of 3 tickets (maximum 2 children per adult).

** In case of adverse weather conditions, the activity takes place indoors.


21

12:00

Families

Creative Botanical Printing Workshop

The Gulbenkian Gardens embody the happy meeting between their masterful designers and the natural shapes and colours of the plant species that give them form, set between buildings that live and breathe Art. The first botanical prints were found in Ancient Greece and used to illustrate plants in pharmacological manuals. In the Renaissance, a manuscript by Leonardo da Vinci contained a print from a salvia leaf alongside instructions on botanical printing. With time, this technique was refined and began to incorporate the use of colour. This activity encourages you to use the technique of botanical printing to make designs on paper from some of the plants found in the Gulbenkian Garden.

Conducted by: Dália Lourenço
Location: Gulbenkian Garden
Meeting Point: Edifício Sede entrance

For all ages
Capacity: 24 people (minimum participation of 6 people)
Duration: 45 minutes

Registration: free entry with ticket collection on the same day

* Each family can purchase a maximum of 3 tickets (maximum 2 children per adult).

** In case of adverse weather conditions, the activity takes place indoors.


27

10:00

Guided Visits

Bicycle ride from Gulbenkian Garden to Monsanto: plants of the landscape and their habitats

The name and work of Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles reaches much further than the Gulbenkian Garden, for example to the Green Corridor that links the Foundation to Monsanto. What connects these two projects with the Portuguese landscape? What is the Lisbon Ecological Structure and why is it important? What influence do factors like the climate, soil, geology, water, and solar exposure have on the vegetation that grows in a particular area? This bicycle ride will help you explore these questions, recognise and identify bio-indicator species and understand the dynamics of the natural landscape.

Conducted by: Mariana Machado
Location: Gulbenkian Garden
Meeting Point: Edifício Sede entrance

For ages 18 and above
Capacity: 20 people (minimum participation of 10 people)
Duration: 240 minutes

* Registration required by May 25

** Participants must bring their own bicycle, water and light meal for lunch.

*** The activity is subject to weather conditions.


Registration
28

11:00

Guided Visits

Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Gulbenkian Garden

Did you know that many of the active substances in medicines come from plants? And that edible, medicinal plants can be found in almost all gardens, whether ornamental or growing spontaneously? Let's discover some of them in the vegetation of the Gulbenkian Garden, among gingkos, olive trees, and wild plants. Fernanda Botelho, author of books on edible and medicinal wild plants, will introduce us to plants that work as sedatives, anti-inflammatories, diuretics, anti-bacterials, tranquilisers, regulators… gardens are living pharmacopias!

Conducted by: Fernanda Botelho
Location: Gulbenkian Garden
Meeting Point: Edifício Sede entrance

For ages 12 and above
Capacity: 25 people (minimum participation of 10 people)
Duration: 90 minutes

Registration: free entry with ticket collection on the same day (one ticket per person)

* The activity is subject to weather conditions.


28

15:00

Guided Visits

A Garden as a Cultural Construction

The Gulbenkian Gardens, built in the 1960s according to a design by the landscape architects António Viana Barreto and Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles, were classified as a national monument in 2010, along with the Main Building of the Gulbenkian Foundation. They are an example of a Portuguese garden that clearly reflects the modernist principles of garden design, but this way of designing and thinking about landscapes and gardens has roots in a wider discussion regarding the idea of nature in Portuguese culture. Once more we will be guided by landscape architect Aurora Carapinha, who explains to us the reasons why this garden constitutes "a work of exceptional scale, design and technical competence, making it an important reference for architecture nationally and internationally”.

Conducted by: Aurora Carapinha
Location: Gulbenkian Garden
Meeting Point: Edifício Sede entrance

For ages 16 and above
Capacity: 25 people (minimum participation of 10 people)
Duration: 90 minutes

Registration: free entry with ticket collection on the same day (one ticket per person)

* The activity is subject to weather conditions.


Other nearby gardens

← View All Gardens