Guided Tour of the Botanical Garden of Queluz

This guided tour introduces visitors to the Botanical Garden of Queluz, one of the jewels of the National Palace and Gardens of Queluz, the summer retreat of the Portuguese royal family during the 18th century.

As a private recreational space, this garden was never encumbered with the institutional apparatus or educational focus of some of the most famous botanical gardens of that time. It boasted an immense diversity of exotic, unusual and previously unknown species – most notably the pineapple plant, whose fruit made a splash across Europe thanks to its striking appearance and its incomparable flavour and fragrance. Visitors can now discover one of the principal arenas of courtly entertainment during the reign of Queen Maria I and King Pedro III.