mata do bucacao
TRANSCRIPT
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& Trekking at Buçaco’s Woodlands
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Having belonged to the Diocese of Coimbra
since 1094, the Forest was donated in 1628
by the then Bishop of Coimbra, Dom João
Manuel, to the Order of the Discalced
Carmelites, so that they could build their
“Desert” in Portugal. Building work began
in August of that same year, with the
construction of the convent and itssurrounding wall, which were completed by
1630, when regular monastic life began.
The Convent of Santa Cruz, built with the
simplicity required by the eremitic tradition
of the Carmelite Desert, has a unique design
in Portugal: the church, which due to the
later addition of the choir displays an
ambiguous floor plan somewhere between
a Greek cross and a Latin cross, dominates
a cloisterless space, with the courtyards
affording a sense of regularity to the group
of buildings. Or, in other words, in this highly
original design for a building to be used for
spiritual purposes, it is the church that is
placed inside a simulated “cloistered space”,
marking a return to the organisation of the
mythical design of the Temple of Jerusalem.
As a decora tive technique extended to
convents, the architectural covering of cork
or shells reflects the spirit of simple
plainness appropriate to the asceticpractices of the friars. Some sculptures,
paintings (most notably one work of Josefa
de Óbidos) and tiles still remain from the
17th and 18th centuries, revealing a
dynamic religious community that was alert
to the specific artistic styles of its time. In
1834, the abolition of the religious orders
brought an end to the presence of the
Discalced Carmel i tes in Buçaco.
V i s i t 1
C o n v e n t o f S a n t a C r u z
V i s i t 2
C o n v e n t a n
d G a r d e n s o f B u ç a c o ´
s P a l a c e H o t e l The Palace Hotel (1888-1907) is considered
one of the main places of interest. Created
by the Italian set designer Luigi Manini
(1848-1936), the building denotes a mixture
of romantic and nationalist cultures, with
both neo-Manueline and neo-Renaissance
features. Built by stonemasons trained at
the Coimbra school, it was the first formalexpression of the historicist revival that was
to spread across the region.
Other contributions were made by Nicola
Bigaglia (1841-1908), who designed the
Casa dos Cedros, and Norte Júnior (1878-
1962), who designed the Casa dos Brasões,
both working in styles that blended in
harmoniously with the other buildings.
Name: Convent of Santa Cruz | Appr oxim ate leng th: 400 m | Appr oxi mate du ratio n of v isit : 45
minutes | Degree of difficulty: Easy | Point of departure and arrival: Convent | Points of interest:
Chapel, Altar, Cloister, “Wellington Cell”, “Ecce Homo” chapel, oils and sculptures (including an “Our
Lady of the Milk” by Josefa de Óbidos), Nativity Scene.
C o n v e n
t o
f S a
n t a C r u z
G a r d e n s o
f P a
l a c e
H o
t e l
Name: Visit to the Convent and the Gardens of Buçaco´s Palace Hotel | Appr oxim ate leng th: 1 km
| Appro ximate dur ation of v isit: 1h30m | Degree of difficulty: Easy | Point of departure and arrival:
Convent | Points of interest: Chapel, Altar, Cloister, “Wellington Cell”, “Ecce Homo” chapel, oils and
sculptures (including an “Our Lady of the Milk” by Josefa de Óbidos), Nativity Scene, gardens of the
Palace Hotel (pergola, the camellia garden and the ponds) arboretum, outstanding botanical species.
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V i s i t 3
C o n v e n t a n d B u ç a c o
´ s W o o d l a n d s
V i s i t 4
B u ç a c o ´ s W o o d l a n d s
F o n
t e F r i a -
W a
t e r
T r a
i l
Name: Visit to the Convent and Buçaco’s Woodlands | Appr oxim ate leng th: 3,5 km | Appr oxi mate
duration of visit: 3 hours | Degree of difficulty: Intermediate | Point of departure and arrival: Convent
| Points of interest: Chapel, Altar, Cloister, “Wellington Cell”, “Ecce Homo” chapel, oils and sculptures
(including an “Our Lady of the Milk” by Josefa de Óbidos), Nativity Scene, gardens of the Palace Hotel
(pergola, the camellia garden and the ponds) arboretum, outstanding botanical species, Via Crucis,
devotional chapels, ponds and fountains, hermitages, outstanding botanical species, arboretum, Relic
Forest and Valley of the Ferns
Note: trekking footwear advised
The Buçaco National Woodlands is situated
in the far north-west of the Serra do Buçaco,
in the municipality of Mealhada. Its unique
characteristics derive from the time that
the Discalced Carmelites spent here. Still
containing areas of native Portuguese
woodland, the forest was worked upon by
successive generations of friars who sought
to represent Mount Carmel as the origin of
their Order. Protected both by the
Carmelites and their benefactors, it also
received protection from the Holy See to
prevent the cutting and clearing of trees
by the local populations. Currently
occupying an area of 105 hectares and
endowed with one of Europe’s finest
collections of trees, it contains roughly 250
different species of trees and shrubs,
including some quite remarkable examples.
It is one of the richest National Forests in
terms of natural, architectural and cultural
heritage, and can be divided into three
different landscape areas: the Arboretum;
the Gardens and the Valley of Ferns; and
the Relict Forest.
Today, it is a living laboratory and an
important object of study for various
Portuguese universities.
Name: Visit to Buçaco’s Woodlands | Appr oxim ate leng th: 3 km | Appr oxim ate dur ation of vi sit:
2 hours | Degree of difficulty: Intermediate | Point of departure and arrival: convent | Points of
interest: Via Crucis, ponds and fountains, hermitages, outstanding botanical species, arboretum, Relic
Forest and Valley of the Ferns
Note: trekking footwear advised
R e
l i c F l o r e s
t T r a
i l
V a
l e d o s
F e
t o s -
W a
t e r
T r a
i l
C a
l v á r i o -
V i a C r u c
i s T r a
i l
W o r k
b y
J o s e
f a d e
Ó b i d o s
| C o n v e n
t o
f S a n
t a C r u z
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This is a climax formation of native
vegetation that, according to some
authors, still conserves the typical
characteristics of the primitive forest
that existed before the human
settlement of the area. Occupying
only a small fraction of the park, at
the south-western end of the forest,this place is fairly diversified and
houses three different habitats: the
oak grove of pedunculate and
Pyrenean oak-trees; the laurel grove,
dominated by the laurel-tree, but with
the frequent presence of strawberry,
lily of the valley and holly trees; and
the ‘Adernais’ (privet grove) on the
southern and south-western slopes.
The adernal is a unique plant
formation dominated by large aderno
trees, spreading from the Cruz Alta
to the Passo de Caifás (the Caiaphas
station of the Cross). In some places,
it is almost completely pure, forminga dense wood with practically no other
tree species. Amongst the subshrub
species, there is a predominance of
butcher’s broom, while the most
common climbing species are rough
bindweed, bittersweet and ivy.
Length: 2.119 meters | Appr oxim ate dur ation of vi sit: : 2 hours | Degree of difficulty: Intermediate
| Point of departure and arrival: convent
Note: trekking footwear advised
R e l i c F l o r e s t
F o n t e F r i a
The rich water resources of Buçaco’s
Woodlands originated several
interventions between the 17th and
the 19th centuries, with the building
of fountains – of which Fonte Fria is
the most notorious example – and
lakes. The two existing valleys unite
at Fonte Fria, giving way to the Valleyof the Ferns, whose name derives
from the existence there of various
examples of tree-like ferns. Besides
the dramatic terrain, this landscape
features a luxurious vegetation and
several water lines.
Length: 3.295 meters | Appr oxim ate dur ation of vi sit: 3 hours | Degree of difficulty: Intermediate
| Point of departure and arrival: convent | Points of interest: Valley of the Ferns, Fonte Fria, fountains
(Carregal, Santa Teresa, Santo Elias, São Silvestre and Samaritana), cascade.
Note: trekking footwear advised
Requalification Sponsored by
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Length: 3.295 meters | Appr oxim ate dur ation of vi sit: 2.479 meters | Degree of difficulty: Easy |
Point of departure and arrival: convent | Points of interest: Convent of Santa Cruz, Wellington’s
olive tree, gate of Sula and observation post of Sula’s windmill, Obelisk and Military Museum.
Note: trekking footwear advised
Length: 3.132 meters | Point of departure and arrival: convent | Points of interest: Stations of the Cross, the Praetorium
and the Calvary, hermitages.
Note: trekking footwear advised
M i l i t a r y M u s e u m
On 27 September 1810, the forest
was the scene of the Battle of Buçaco
(one of the bloodiest episodes in the
history of the Napoleonic invasions
in Portugal), with the Convent being
used as the Duke of Wellington’s
operational headquarters in the
confrontation between the Portuguese
and British forces and the invading
French army. Next to the Convent,
there still stands an olive-tree where,
according to tradition, Wellington tied
his horse when he rested after the
battle.
C a l v á r i o
In 1644, under the auspices of Dom
Manuel Saldanha, the Rector of the
University of Coimbra, work began
on the building of a Via Crucis (Way
of the Cross) with extremely powerful
ideological and doctrinal overtones,
intended to represent the stations of
the Passion of J esus Christ. Thesestations were initially marked by
crosses made of brazilwood, which
were replaced (in 1694-1695) by
chapels commissioned by the Bishop
of Coimbra Dom J oão de Melo. The
highlights are the stations of the
Praetorium and the Calvary, the latter
marking the end of the Via Crucis.
Standing as the representation of
Mount Carmel in Palestine (the origin
of the Order of the Carmelites), the
“Sacromonte” not only symbolizes the
legacy of the Prophet Elijah as thefirst hermit, but also plays a major
spiritual role through its direct links
with the programme defined within
the convent walls.
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