quinta das lágrimas gardens

Who doesn't love a good garden? This one - Quinta das Lágrimas Gardens - is the nearest to me, and of course I've been there a couple of times to see how everything's been coming into bloom. The gardens date back to the 14th century (everything in Coimbra is old, and I love it!) and have different sections from medieval and romantic gardens to a bamboo garden, the woods and an amphitheatre. One of the historical stories I've come to study while being in Portugal is that of Pedro and Inês. Some have compared their story to Romeo and Juliet - except Pedro and Inês were real. And since they lived in Coimbra for some of their lives, a lot of the places here are connected to them; for example, this garden. The basic storyline of Pedro and Inês is that the prince's marriage to Inês is opposed by his parents and other nobility due to her not being officially a member of the nobility (illegimate descent), yet they do marry but there's a plot against the two and Inês is murdered (in this monastery). The two main fountains at Quinta das Lágrimas are the "Fountain of Love" that witnessed the love of these two and the "Fountain of Tears" (Lágrimas) that was created by the tears of Inês as she died. It is definitely a place frequeted by lovers and romantics who seem to throw coins in the Fountain of Love, tie red ribbons in the woods or carve their names in the bamboo garden on a regular basis. Bu it's a cool place to visit even if you don't have a honey and just want to see some pretty flowers (cornflowers and granny's bonnets have always been some of my favourites!). And not every history fact is related to Pedro and Inês (I'm not sure how reliable all the stories I've heard are, after all): a more random one would be that the Duke of Wellington visited this garden in 1813 and there's two trees planted in his honour that you can find, too!