Historic Gardens Heritage in Portugal: From the Originality of an Art to the Inventory Process

Abstract

Although they are one of the richest expressions of cultural and landscape heritage, gardens are at the same time one of the most delicate. The preservation and protection of these landscapes are based on what we know of them from the inventories which, in the particular case of historic gardens, have increased since the 1980s, as recommended by the Florence Charter. Portugal has a vast and varied range of historic gardens defined as original and unique. The concern to protect them resulted in lists and inventories being drawn up over time, prompted by academic and institutional initiatives. This article proposes to analyze the inventories of Portuguese historic gardens, specifically in terms of their main characteristics, content, achievements and drawbacks, and to discuss their effectiveness. Twelve inventories were considered. The information was collected from several sources and organized in databases, which were then sampled for a content analysis. The findings show that each study unequivocally added to knowledge about Portuguese landscape art, but also revealed important structural weaknesses. These were found in the different approaches and data standards used and in the information itself, which was often incomplete and was not updated. In addition, information tended to be scattered and there was a lack of interaction between preservation tools. This led to the conclusion that this task is far from being completed and fully effective. The present analysis could provide useful insights and be a starting point to trigger discussion among garden heritage professionals and organizations about centralizing the information on gardens, and to combine efforts to plug the gaps in it, so that the inventory can play an effective part in the sustainable maintenance, management and safeguarding of these assets.