Welcome to Quintal do Forno
A historic camellia garden on the foothills of Serra da Estrela, Portugal.
Discover its beauty while staying in our delightfully charming holiday cottage.
Since 1886 Quintal do Forno shows the Cabral’s family enthusiasm for gardening and landscape.
This historic camellia garden is the heart of our project, dedicated to the study, conservation, and promotion of its valuable botanical collection. By staying at our enchanting holiday cottage, Casa da Hera, you are supporting our preservation project.
For garden enthusiasts, our gates are open all year for visits by appointment.
For an enhanced experience, Casa da Hera is a welcoming and cosy cottage perfect for your next holiday escape.
“Quintal do Forno: garden of memories”
Our project aims to study, maintain and promote the Quintal do Forno integrating heritage and tourism activities.
The foundation is at the best international heritage conservation practices.
Archive
Categorising, registering, and conserving the Quintal do Forno documents kept in the Caldeira Cabral family’s archive.
Camellia Conservation
Description, identification, and the replication the plant collections to ensure its maintenance and promotion.
Cultural Tourism
Restoring the cottages bordering the garden for holiday accommodation to provide economic sustainability.
The garden has a remarkable botanical collection from the 19th century with relevant cultural value, documented with their purchase bills.
Manoel Cabral Soares de Albergaria developed the garden by the end of the nineteenth century.
During the twentieth century his great-grandnephew, Francisco Caldeira Cabral, maintained and added some layers.
Now we are working on sharing our family garden while ensuring its integrity for the next generations.
Embracing the past, cultivating the future
To bring this project to life, we founded a small family company with the mission of preserving and promoting our local cultural and natural heritage in a sustainable way. Our efforts are focused on three main areas.
Our starting point for the conservation of the cultural heritage is the historic camellias conservation and the Caldeira Cabral family’s archive.
The Quintal do Forno’s traditional buildings provide accommodation with a modern design and comfort for our guests to take home fond memories.
Seeking sustainability we are managing land in Paços da Serra, where we promote natural regeneration of native species and the provision of ecosystem services.