Jardim de São Pedro de Alcântara, Lisbon

The Jardim de São Pedro de Alcântara is a garden located in Lisbon, in the parish of Misericórdia. It was built in 1864, on two terraces.

The original project dates back to the eighteenth century, authored by the 2nd architect of the palace Convento de Mafra João Pedro Ludovice, son of João Frederico Ludovice, architect of Mafra, where the King João V orders to build a wall with 20 meters high on the grounds of São Pedro de Alcântara in order to create a Mãe de Água - a monumental deposit that would extend the Águas Livres Aqueduct to Graça. However, the 1755 earthquake imposed other priorities and the land became a dumping ground for dead animals that were thrown down the wall.

Only in 1830, there is the first attempt to use the wasteland by the Royal Guard of the Police that, having the barracks very close, made the space their "vegetable garden". It was only five years later that the Lisbon City Council, following the victory of Liberalism and the recovery of executive powers, converted the space into a public garden.

It has an area of 0.6 ha. It is located in Rua de São Pedro de Alcântara, near Bairro Alto. The garden has a small pond and a belvedere, which offers an imposing view over the east of Lisbon, overlooking part of downtown Lisbon and the south bank of the Tejo River.

There is a tiled map next to the balustrade that helps identify some of Lisbon's sites. The panorama extends from the walls of St. George's Castle surrounded by trees and the Sé of Lisbon on the hills to the southwest, to the 18th century Church of Penha de França to the northwest. Also visible is the large Graça Church complex, while São Vicente de Fora is recognizable by the symmetrical towers around the white facade.

The benches and the shade from the trees make the viewpoint a very pleasant place. To get to the viewpoint you can choose to walk up the Calçada da Glória or take the Elevador da Glória, which brings you very close to the viewpoint.

In the garden, the monument by Costa Motta, erected in 1904, represents Eduardo Coelho founder of the newspaper Diário de Notícias, below it a paperman proclaims the famous newspaper.