Portugal in miniature

Coimbra has an amazing theme park of miniatures called Portugal in miniature. The park was designed so that in a playful and educational form it would show the culture and heritage of Portugal around the world.

"Portugal for the smallest" began to be built in 1938 at the initiative of a professor at the University of Coimbra, Bisaya Barreto, with a design designed by architect Cassiano Branco. The opening of the park took place on June 8, 1940. The construction of the park took place in 3 stages.

The first stage took place in 1938-1940, when houses typical of each region of the country were built with gardens, chapels, mills. The most important monuments of the city of Coimbra were also reproduced. The second stage includes the so-called "monumental area", the space from the most representative monuments from north to south.

The third phase, completed in the late 1950s, includes the cultural heritage of Portugal outside the country. These are expositions from Africa, Brazil, Macau, India, Timor, surrounded by representatives of the local flora of these regions. The park also includes expositions of the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira.

The park is characterized by the presence of small buildings representing monuments and other elements of the culture and architectural heritage of Portugal. Today, the park is divided into several thematic areas: Azores and Madeira, monumental Portugal, Coimbra, regional houses, playgrounds for children. Also in the Portugal park in the miniature there is a costume museum, a fleet museum, a furniture museum, souvenir shops and cafes. About 400,000 people visit the park during the year.