MUHNAC – Botanical Garden

Part of the complex of the National Museum of Natural History and Science (MUHNAC), which encompasses the building of the old Polytechnic School, the Botanical Garden is located within the enclosure of Colégio dos Nobres (College of Noblemen) and is inscribed in nearly 4 hectares of the eastern slope of Monte do Olivete (Olivete Hill), consolidated as an urban area. Several years and personalities are associated to its construction, whose origin lies in a law from 1837 that warned about the need for the Polytechnic School to have a botanical garden, which lasted for several years, even after the garden was inaugurated, in 1878. Inside, we can find the only historical educational observatory in Portugal—dating back to 1898—, the first Portuguese weather station—operating since 1853—, the 1930s building of the Herbarium, the greenhouse e and the butterfly house. Known for its exotic boulevards and romantic settings, it counts over 1500 species and specimens from New Zealand, Australia, China, Japan and South America. This historic garden, built to promote education and research, is the only botanical garden in Portugal classified as National Monument.