Terra Nostra Park
The Terra Nostra Park ("Our Earth Park") is a botanical garden in Furnas in the Povoação district on the Portuguese Azores island of São Miguel .
The park contains one of the largest collections of camellias in the world with over 600 different species and also Europe's largest collection of sago palm ferns .
The garden was founded in 1780, when the then consul of the United States of America on the island of São Miguel, Thomas Hickling, built his summer residence here, which then became known as Yankee Hall .
Only in the middle of the 19th century did the area of two hectares gradually increase. The Viscondes da Praia or later the Bensaude family expanded the area to an appealing size. Water gardens and plantations with dark alleys and flower beds were created, and Yankee Hall was converted into a hotel. In 1872, when the garden was already in the hands of the 2nd Visconde of Praia, the latter brought Portuguese and English specialists. They carried out a reconstruction of the existing canal, built caves and avenues out of boxwood , but the paths with orange trees have disappeared. Trees were imported from North America, Australia, New Zealand, China and South Africa.
In the 1930s, the Terra Nostra Park was acquired by Vasco Bensaude, who saw it primarily as an addition to the Terra Nostra Hotel. At that time the park reached an area of 12.5 hectares, divided alternately into gardens and woods. Vasco Bensaude had a great deal of knowledge in botany and horticulture, as was his gardener of Scottish origin, John McEnroy.
One of the biggest attractions is the water pool with naturally brown thermal water and a temperature of 38 ° C. The pool is carved in stone and surrounded by exotic plants. Bathing is allowed, but requires a longer shower afterwards.
This park was named one of the most beautiful in the world by Condé-Nast-Verlag . The park is open to the public for a fee.
Web links
- Parque Terra Nostra on azoren-online.com
- Lifecooler.com: Parque Terra Nostra
- Diário dos Açores: Furnas acolhem maior variedade de camélias
Coordinates: 37 ° 46 '24.4 " N , 25 ° 19' 12.2" W.