Welcome to Quintal do Forno
A historic camellia garden on the foothills of Serra da Estrela, Portugal
Since 1886 Quintal do Forno shows the Cabral’s family enthusiasm for gardening and landscape.
This historic camellia garden is at the heart of our project, which studies, conserves, and promotes its plant collections. Soon, awaiting for you, the old stone cottages bordering the garden will be available for tourist accommodation.
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 19th century.
During the 20th 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.
“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 tourist accommodation to provide economic sustainability.
Embracing the past, cultivating the future
We aim to value and maintain our local cultural and natural heritage sustainably. Three areas shape our work and define our purpose.
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.
Environment
Seeking sustainability we are managing land in Paços da Serra, where we promote natural regeneration of native species and the provision of ecosystem services.
The building works to restore the Quintal do Forno’s cottages are finishing.
After a long time since we drafted the first ideas, and following a bumpy ride, we hope to open doors in early 2024.
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