João Chagas Garden

It has been called João Chagas Garden since 1924, but everyone in town knows it as the Cordoaria Garden after the rope makers (“cordoeiros”) who lived and worked here for about 200 years. The city hired the German landscaper Emile David in the nineteenth century to turn the Cordoaria Square into a public green space. The work took place in 1865/1866. In this garden, look for the statues of Ramalho Ortigão and António Nobre, and the sculpture "The Rape of Ganymede" by Antonio Fernandes de Sá. Notice also the interesting sculptural group by Juan Muñoz entitled the "Thirteen Laughing at Each Other" (2001) in the beautiful Alameda dos Plátanos area. The garden also has a bandstand near the area where several bars and restaurants are concentrated, and which fills with people at night. A controversial overhauling took place in 2001 as part of Porto 2001 European Capital of Culture. In 2013, the Garden added a playground.