Edward VII Park

Well, let’s start from the beginning. Come one, don’t be scared, will start from the 18th century. At that time, the urban core of Lisbon was confined not too much more than the riverside area, Baixa-Chiado, Castelo and Bairro Alto. The current Avenida da Liberdade, then called Passeio Público, was already outside of the city centre. It was a place for wandering and social encounters between the high society. The area where Eduardo VII Park is located today, use to be rural area.

Eugénio de Almeida, have you heard of him? Yes, yes, from the wine, or rather the good wine, Adega Cartuxa! We like it, right? Well, part of the land that today belongs to the park belonged to the founder of this family, the businessman José Maria Eugénio de Almeida. He had a farm here, with a very particular house, which became known as Casal da Torrinha.

Throughout the 19th century, population growth forced the city’s urban expansion. The city grew up along the Passeio Público, up to the current Marquês de Pombal roundabout and then to the right, along Avenidas Novas. Architects/Parisian readers, do you recognize any urban influence in these areas? Well, the person who played an important role in the planning of the city at this stage was Engineer Ressano Garcia. He studied in Paris, assimilated Baron Haussmann‘s urban concepts and applied them to Lisbon.

Back to Eduardo VII’s Park, the city was built around the existing rural properties of this area. Small important detail, with the extinction of the Public Promenade at the end of the 19th century, the city needed a park. As an engineer for the Lisbon City Council, Ressano Garcia launched an international competition for the construction project of a green corridor along Avenida da Liberdade, to be called Parque da Liberdade. It was M. Henry Lusseau, French landscape architect, who won the competition. For various reasons, this project didn’t get out of the paper, but some of his ideas remained and were slowly built over the following decades. For example, the lake.

Well, the story behind the construction of this park is long and tortuous. It was called Parque da Liberdade, it had a lake with boats, it hosted an open-air library and even a Popular Fair. More recently, it was here that the highest figure of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, met thousands of pilgrims. It was renamed in 1904, in honour of the English King Edward VII, who had visited in the previous year. It was an official visit to reaffirm the oldest diplomatic alliance in the world, the alliance between Portugal and England. Well, yes, after the Ultimatum made by the United Kingdom to Portugal in 1890, a peace-making visit was indeed necessary. 😜

And Casal da Torrinha, do you still remember? Somewhere in time, the house was bought by the Frenchman Gustave Mathieu. With the expansion of the city and the park project, the City Council decided to expropriate several pieces of land in the area, including Torrinha. Eviction order to the Frenchman. The poor fellow staled as long as he could, filing lawsuits in court. With no luck, he ended up having to leave and Torrinha was demolished in 1916. It was all over the newspaper and cause of a few social complaints.

After so many backs and forwards in the construction and rehabilitation of this park, in the 40’s, finally, a good soul finally solved the matter. The then Mayor of Lisbon, Álvaro Salvação Barreto invited the architect Francisco Keil do Amaral to develop a definitive project for this place. Well, and (with more or less details) it is the current design of Parque Eduardo VII.

The park has now 25 hectares, a large grassy central axis and two side alleys coated with Portuguese pavement. Along the sides there are a few places that are well worth a visit. To the left as you go up, the Greenhouses: Cold, Hot and Sweet, shelter for flora species from all over the world. A little further down there is a small lake, a nice kiosk and a kid’s playground. In the midst of this calm, Clube VII, a trendy gym here in the place, quite complete. On the right side as you go up is the Pavilhão Carlos Lopes, which also has a somewhat curious history. Story for an upcoming episode.

At the top of the park, there are two monumental columns, between which Keil do Amaral had designed the City Palace. One more wrangle, it was never built either. Instead, today, we have a monument in honour of the 25th of April revolution, João Cutileiro’s work (1997). Guess what? Yes, another controversial project, this time for its phallic shape. Behind it, we have the largest Portuguese flag in the world (2005), planted there as the suggestion of a 10-year-old kid to the then President of the Republic, Jorge Sampaio.

https://informacoeseservicos.lisboa.pt/contactos/diretorio-da-cidade/parque-eduardo-vii 12/08/2023

Delays and controversies aside, this spot has one of the best views over the city: São Jorge Castle, Baixa Pombalina and the Tagus River, with the Marquês de Pombal square aligned in the centre. In addition to being very calm and pleasant, Parque Eduardo VII, is where the most important event in the city is held every year. There is no other like it (at least for us): the Book Fair. 😜

Information:

- Website: Parque Eduardo VII

References:

- Barreto, Á. S. (1946) Relatório do Presidente da Câmara Municipal de Lisboa. Anais do Município de Lisboa 1945. CML: Lisboa.
- Maia, A. (2007) Monumentos e edifícios notáveis do distrito de Lisboa, Junta Distrital de Lisboa: Lisboa.
- Dionísio, S. (1988). Guia de Portugal, 1º volume, Lisboa e arredores. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian: Lisboa.
- http://www.monumentos.gov.pt/Site/APP_PagesUser/SIPA.aspx?id=5094 11/08/2023
- https://arquivomunicipal3.cm-lisboa.pt/X-arqWEB/Result.aspx?id=1501988&type=PCD 11/08/2023
- https://www.fea.pt/a-fundacao/fundador-e-historia/familia-eugenio-de-almeida 02/08/2023
- https://www.timeout.pt/lisboa/pt/noticias/o-patio-das-antigas-a-insolita-torrinha-043021 11/08/2023
- https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederico_Ressano_Garcia 11/08/2023

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