Bussaco cultural landscape

October 2020 - going south from Porto to Lisbon we still had a few spots to visit in between. Before going to Coimbra that day we drove into the national park of bussaco. You can buy a car ticket at the entrance booth for reasonable 5€. We drove up to the palace hotel and first had a long hike through the Tasmanian and American forests and found a mysterious cascade with water dripping downwards. Many exotic plants and trees are standing here and especially the many ferns make this spot look like a moderate-climate jungle. We did have a map but the paths are in very Bad shape so we found ourselves crawling under fallen trees or jumping over branches. Somehow we made it to the top again and still had time to circle the palace hotel. It was undergoing renovation which seems more than overdue. In the garden are wooden carved snails to ride on and a toy train, so we had some family time! The cafe has very good cappuccino and pastels de nata again. All in all a mysterious, totally Whs deserving spot which just needs a Bit more conservation. At least I could give small support.

The Mata Nacional do Buçaco is located 550 meters above sea level at the highest point of the Serra do Buçaco mountain range. The forest area is surrounded by a high, 5-kilometre-long wall. Actually, it is an arboretum with a multitude of endemic trees and shrubs and exotic species brought by the Portuguese seafarers from the colonies.

Coming from Coimbra I arrived in the forest in the morning and in the thick fog, which often seems to occur in Buçaco. I entered the forest through one of the eleven gates and paid 5 euros for parking, the entrance is free for pedestrians and cyclists (you can also park the car outside the walls).
In the centre of the park is the neo-Manueline Buçaco Palace, built for the last Portuguese king. Today the palace is a 5-star hotel, I could only take a short look into the entrance hall and the restaurant, looks nobel and luxurious. From the outside it has similarities with the Quinta da Regaleira Palace in Sintra.
Right next to the Palace is the former Convento de Santa Cruz do Buçaco, or rather its remains. Large parts were destroyed for the construction of the Buçaco Palace or are today integrated into the hotel complex. The chapel of the convent has been preserved, but unfortunately it was closed for renovations. The façade is decorated with black-white mosaics and looks quite nice.
There are a number of hiking trails starting at the palace, I chose the Via Sacra up …

If you still have a day to spend a Coimbra, choose Mata National do Bucaco – the green heart of Portugal. It is only 50 minute bus ride from the main bus station. The bus will stop in the center of this national forest, by the kitschy, neo_Manueline summer royal palace built in the beginning of XX century and resembling to palaces of Sintra. The royal family could enjoy this palace only for 3 years – 1910 was the end of royal reigning in Portugal. Now it is a pretty expensive hotel where you can have a cup of tea or coffee if you want to see the interior, only the restuarant. Adjacent to the palace are the remains of Convento dos Carmelites: old church turned into museum now.

The hill on which the forest is situated was occupied by Benedictine monks as early as VI c., but that were the Carmelite who made this forest valuable. They came here at the beginning of XVII c. and encompassed it with a big wall to protect all kinds of plants, indigenous and brought from Americas. No woman was allowed to enter the forest! In 1643 a bull of pope Urban VIII threatens with excommunication any person cutting or harming the trees. The Carmelite monks marked out the Via Sacra and built some chapels with natural size presentaion of the Crusifixion scenes (they are not in as good condition as the ones in Varallo, Italy). There are also some nice fountains and …