Portugal in miniature

There is an amazing miniature theme park in Coimbra called Portugal in Miniature. The park was designed to showcase Portugal's culture and heritage around the world in a playful and educational way.

Portugal for the Little Ones began to be built in 1938 on the initiative of Bisaya Barreto, a professor at the University of Coimbra, with a design by the architect Cassiano Branco. The park was opened 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 for each region of the country with gardens, chapels, and mills were built. The most important monuments of the city of Coimbra were also reproduced. The second stage includes the so-called "monumental square", a space of the most representative monuments from north to south.

The third stage, completed in the late 1950s, includes Portugal's cultural heritage 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 culture and architectural heritage of Portugal. Nowadays, the park is divided into several thematic areas: the Azores and Madeira, monumental Portugal, Coimbra, regional houses, playgrounds for children. Portugal Miniature Park also has a costume museum, a navy museum, a furniture museum, souvenir shops and cafes. About 400,000 people visit the park every year.