Camões Garden and Grotto

The Camões garden covers a rocky hillside north of the old centre, laid out in the eighteenth century in the grounds of a merchant's house, with old banyans, granite boulders and shaded paths, and at its centre a grotto formed by three large rocks holds a bronze bust of Luís de Camões, whose epic poem is the national work of Portugal and who is traditionally said to have written part of it here. Local residents use it for exercise and card games every morning.

What you actually see

• The grotto - the rock formation holding the poet's bronze bust.
• The old banyans - the mature trees shading the hillside paths.
• The granite boulders - the rock outcrops the garden was laid out among.
• The morning use - residents exercising and playing cards through the garden.

When to go

October to December is dry and cool. Early morning is when the garden is liveliest with residents. It is open daily from dawn.

Honest expectations

The claim that the poet wrote here is tradition rather than established fact. The paths are steep and stepped in places. There is little interpretation.

Nearby

The Ruins of St Paul's are south, and the Protestant Cemetery is beside the garden.