A Trip to Madeira - Monte Palace

This is my last article in the Trip to Madeira series. It has been great to show you all that I’ve learned and seen in this voyage and in this last article I wanted to show you the last place I visited and one of the most beautiful. Following my last articles theme, I went up to Monte, right above Funchal, and in there I visited the exotic garden of Monte Palace, a real journey through different cultures and settings.

Monte Palace

I actually aim to brief in what to write on this article, not that there isn’t much to say, but more because there so much more to see.

The history of this garden goes back a lot, it started in the XVIII century when it was a farm, and along the years it has changed to a palace, an hotel, a financial institution and only on 1987 was it acquired by businessman and art collector Joe Berardo and turned into a exotic garden, filled with flora from all over the world and decorated with lakes filled with colorful koi fish and buddha statues. The walls are also decorated with a series of painted tiles depicting the history of portuguese kings. Amongst the lush vegetation there are also two galleries with exhibitions on african art and beautiful minerals. This garden is unmissable and right next to the cable car that takes you from Funchal up to Monte.

Be sure to visit it and, without further ado, enjoy these pictures.