The Historical Garden of the Pazo de Quiñones de León dates from the end of the 19th century, the realization of its design was ordered by the Marqués de Alcedo and María de los Milagros Elduayen, VIII Marchioness of Valladares. Its location is adjacent to the pazo, on a prominent farmland.
Parque de Castrelos s/n 36213 Vigo
Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain
Coordinates: 42.21258, -8.72743
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Museum (Permanent exhibition)
Free entrance
Web: museodevigo.org
Email: museocastrelos@vigo.org
Phone: 0034 986 29 50 70, 0034 986 29 50 75
The Historical Garden of the Pazo de Quiñones de León dates from the end of the 19th century, the realization of its design was ordered by the Marqués de Alcedo and María de los Milagros Elduayen, VIII Marchioness of Valladares. Its location is adjacent to the pazo, on a prominent farmland.
The authorship of the design and construction of the gardens is unknown, although the influenza of the gardening currents in force at that time in the region of Vigo, was not only Portuguese, but also French and Belgian accredited, this fact, by the settlement of families with a long gardening tradition such as the "Turc" and the "Philippot". In 1924 it was donated to the Vigo City Council.
Today, the gardens present numerous varieties of ornamental and exotic plants, some centuries old, with species such as the French garden camellia, whose age is around two hundred years, Virginia tulip trees and the prairie magnolias, among which is the largest in Galicia. It has 15 monumental trees and 115 species, some included in the catalogue of singular trees.
The landscaped space is located in the immediate surroundings of the house and forms an inseparable set with it. It is conceived, in the manner of the great gardens of Baroque France, from a longitudinal axis perpendicular to the façade that allows it to be seen in its entirety with a single glance.
The gardens were laid out at the end of the 19th century, probably by the prestigious Portuguese gardening company based in Porto, Jacintho Mattos, now defunct, by order of the Marquis of Alcedo. We can observe six well-differentiated parts: the access garden, the rose garden, the French garden, the English garden (or "tea meadow"), the sunny garden in the background and the forest.
The access garden is located in front of the main entrance. It is delimited laterally by the service wing on its right and on its left by a crenelated wall with sentry boxes. Its layout is very simple, a central roundabout with a fountain surrounded by two lateral flowerbeds. The garden continues to the rear of the building in three descending levels. The upper one is occupied by the rose garden. It starts from a gazebo covered with a wooden pergola, which was the old greenhouse.
The intermediate constitutes the French garden. Two areas are distinguished: the one near the façade with a myrtle hedge layout that reaches almost labyrinthine, surrounded by a perimeter fret and a fountain in the center. The farthest sector is larger and has a simpler layout, totally symmetrical, around a longitudinal axis and a central rosette. In the side corridor that borders it with the rose garden is the Paseo de los Escudos.
The English garden is also called "Tea Meadow" because of the British custom that the owners had of having tea in this place. It is on the lowest level of the gardens. It consists of a rectangular meadow surrounded by two footpaths. In the center there is a pond for ducks with a central island that shows a model of the pazo.
The garden presents numerous varieties of ornamental and exotic plants, some centuries old thanks to the mild climate in Vigo due to its proximity to the sea. Species such as the French garden camellium, whose age is around two hundred years, can be seen, the exotic tulip trees originating in Virginia and the old magnolias of the prairie, among which is the largest in Galicia. This careful vegetation is enriched by sculptures, a gallery of coats of arms and various monuments.