Palácio Fronteira, near Lisbon, Portugal More than 60,000 tiles have gone into the creation of this extraordinary 17th-century garden, which has survived kings and earthquakes, and they still gleam as bright as on the day they were laid, says Gerald Luckhurst
TWO pavilions, glowing in the bright sunshine of the early morning, stand out against the clearblue Portuguese sky. Today is one of those days on which winter seems to have succumbed to the onset of the coming spring and the garden at the Palácio dos Marqueses de Fronteira, the Lisbon home of Dom José de Mascarenhas, sparkles with a brilliance that belies the three and a half centuries that have passed since it was first built. Such is the magic of the azulejos, the glazed painted tiles that are so characteristic of Portuguese gardens from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Fronteira is perhaps the supreme example. Unchanged by fashion, untouched by the 1755 earthquake that destroyed so much of Lisbon’s built heritage, the tile panels at Fronteira can make a visit to this historic house and garden a walk into a scene of everlasting vitality.
The blue-and-white ceramic discs came from a dinner service that was deliberately broken after one use
More than 60,000 tiles have survived almost unblemished from a building campaign initiated in 1665 and completed by 1678. In fact, the remarkable thing about Fronteira is that the 17th-century garden has come down to us in its entirety, practically unaltered since this time.
Of course, some things have changed: the house was extended in the 18th century, trees have come and gone, box hedging has almost certainly been renovated and grown fat, the 17th-century Dutch lead statuary has suffered from severe metal fatigue and the fountains may not run with quite the same exuberant enthusiasm of their youth, but everything is still there and, with respect to the tiles, looking as if brand spanking new.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 13, 2019-Ausgabe von Country Life UK.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 13, 2019-Ausgabe von Country Life UK.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds