Manoel Cabral
Soares de Albergaria
In 1886, Manoel Cabral (c.1848-1926) amateur horticulturalist started developing the garden of Quintal do Forno with his first plant purchase.
The Quintal do Forno is opposite the Casa do Oitão, his family home. The properties are in the higher part of Paços da Serra, where Manoel lived most of his life.
Casa do Oitão
Manoel Cabral was the third of the five children of António Cabral Soares de Albergaria (1824-1915) and Maria Gertrudes Amália Marques Ribeiro Saraiva (1827-1876). Around 1850, they built a manor house at the side of their current one, the Casa do Oitão from the sixteenth century.
Despite their new place, António Cabral and Maria Gertrudes never moved there. She died young and either by sorrow or cosiness, António preferred to stay at his old home. However, the new Casa do Oitão was just used to receive relatives and friends in the parlours and dining room of the first floor, from where the two houses connect.
Nowadays, both places belong to great-great-grandsons of the first António Cabral: the manor house, to António Caldeira Cabral (1937); and the old Casa do Oitão, to Archt. José Mª Caldeira Cabral (1942).
South and North views of the old Casa do Oitão, rehabilitated in the 70s, by Archt. José Mª Caldeira Cabral, 1998
Uncle Manoel was single and the only person living in the new Casa do Oitão. He spent most of his time managing the family properties, but also on one of his main hobbies, horticulture. Except for the first floor, Manoel used the building as headquarters for his projects. Back then, plants and bird cages filled in the ground floor and the loft’s glass balcony facing South.
Manoel Cabral subscribed to the Jornal de Horticultura Prática and later to the Jornal Hortícola-Agrícola. Hence, his collections were bought in the finest horticultural nurseries at the time.
1886
Invoice of flowers, trees, shrubs and seeds order issued by the Real Estabelecimento de Horticultura de José Marques Loureiro.
1894
Plant nursery postcard confirming payment to the Real Companhia Horticolo-Agricola Portuense of José Marques Loureiro and Jeronymo Monteiro da Costa.
1910
Invoice of seeds, flowers and trees order issued by the plant nursery of Alfredo Moreira da Silva placed at Rua do Triumpho, Porto, and sent by train to Gouveia.
The family’s property received new trees and shrubs
The old Casa do Oitão’s garden received a specimen of magnolia, persimmon, and pear trees. Further oaks, cedars, and acacia trees arrived at the Corujeira. Meanwhile, Manoel kept his collections of palm trees, camellias, roses, and rhododendrons in the Quintal do Forno.
Quintal do Forno in the 19th century
The Quintal do Forno is a property of 2000 m2 enclosed by granite walls. Its entry is at the former Rua do Oitão, nowadays Rua do Martinho. In the 19th century the family already owned two of the three buildings bordering the garden: an old oven for community use, and later a straw storage, Palheira; and a cottage named Casa da Hera.
As traditionally here, at the Portuguese Beira, Uncle Manuel Cabral created two areas: a floral garden and an orchard
Following the romantic style of that period, the initial garden configuration was very similar to the actual one.
Granite stones limit curvy flowerbeds with camellias close to the borders. Coupled with a palm tree at the centre, some flowerbeds have rhododendrons or azaleas.
Nowadays, the Quintal do Forno still has many of those plants that Uncle Manoel chose for his garden: palm trees, camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas, a specimen of magnolia, a crape myrtle (Largerstroemia indica), a fragrant olive (Osmanthus fragrans) and a white mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia).
