Casa da Cerca – Contemporary Art Centre

Located at the top of a cliff with one of the most beautiful views over Lisbon and overlooking the Tagus River, this old eighteenth-century farmhouse was transformed into a contemporary art centre in 1993. Casa da Cerca, which was once a traditional “recreational farm”, is today the most characteristic example of the city’s eighteenth-century architecture, with a U-shaped plan and simple, linear facades. It is thought that its name is associated with one of Almada’s old city walls, the “cerca” protecting the town since the Middle Ages. The botanical garden opened in 2001 and is concordant with these farms’ particular language, resulting from their former occupation. In the greenhouse and vegetable gardens, a collection of plants grows, with components that are the source to produce materials used in visual arts, bringing the museum and gardens closer together in a perfect symbiosis between nature, science, and art.