Jardim Dr. Mário Soares, Public garden in Alvalade, Portugal.
Jardim Dr. Mário Soares is a spacious public garden featuring lush vegetation, winding walking paths, and a central lake surrounded by open spaces. The layout includes recreational areas, green lawns, and designated zones for different activities throughout the grounds.
The site was known as Campo de Alvalade until the 16th century and hosted the siege of Lisbon by the King of Castile during the 1383–85 crisis. In 1801 the Count of Linhares planned its planting in the Romantic style for the Prince Regent João, and in 1816 the first horse races were held there. The southern half, renovated from November 2016, was inaugurated on 25 April 2018 under the name Mário Soares, who had died the previous year.
The garden's name honours Mário Soares, the president who died in 2017, and was given when the renovated south zone was inaugurated on 25 April 2018. Its statues do not depict Soares: at the north end stand D. Afonso Henriques and D. João I, a caricature figure called SAM sits by the south lake, and a monument to Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro marks the south end. The garden is celebrated in the Fado do Campo Grande, with lyrics by Ary dos Santos and music by Vitorino de Almeida.
The garden is split in two by Avenida do Brasil: the north part holds the rowing boats, the Café Concerto, the Casa do Lago restaurant on the lake island reached by a small bridge, and nine padel courts; the south part has the children's playground and the Campo Grande pool. The Campo Grande metro station lies nearby.
Along the northern section runs a scale listing the main achievements in mathematics, and four benches are carved as mathematical games: Mancala, Alquerque, Moinho and Hex. The garden lies in the valley of the Ribeira do Lumiar, which is why basalt is common in the grounds.
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