Passeio Alegre Garden

The Passeio Alegre Garden was built in the late nineteenth century in part by Emílle David, the German landscape architect who also designed the Romantic Gardens of the Crystal Palace. A grove of palm trees separates the garden from the mouth of the Douro river and in the garden you can see architectural elements of great value such as the granite fountain that had been part of the old S. Francisco Convent or the two obelisks by Nicolau Nasoni that came from the Quinta da Prelada. There is a small romantic chalet in the center of this green space that was built in 1874, predating the garden itself, and that today functions as a café. Other attractions of the garden are the Minigolf Club of Porto; the public bathrooms, built in 1910 and decorated with beautiful English Art Nouveau sanitary ware; and the bandstand, which hosts occasional concerts.