Portugal dos Pequenitos

Portugal dos Pequenitos
Portugal of/for the Little Ones
Miniature park (Parque de miniaturas)
The front facade/entrance to the miniature park
Official name: Portugal dos Pequenitos
Country  Portugal
Region Centro
Subregion Baixo Mondego
District Coimbra
Municipality Coimbra
Location Santa Clara e Castelo Viegas
 - coordinates 40°12′11″N 8°26′3″W / 40.20306°N 8.43417°W / 40.20306; -8.43417Coordinates: 40°12′11″N 8°26′3″W / 40.20306°N 8.43417°W / 40.20306; -8.43417
Architects Cassiano Branco, João Paulo Revez Conceição
Origin 20th century
 - Initiated 1938
Owner Portuguese Republic
For public Public
Easiest access Rossio de Santa Clara
Management Instituto Gestão do Patrimonio Arquitectónico e Arqueológico
Status Unclassified
Wikimedia Commons: Portugal dos Pequenitos
Website: http://www.portugaldospequenitos.pt/

The Portugal dos Pequenitos (translated as Portugal of/for the Little Ones) is a Miniature park in the civil parish of Santa Clara e Castelo Viegas, in the municipality of Coimbra, in the Portuguese district of Coimbra. The park consists of diminutive versions of Portuguese houses and monuments, and has pavilions dedicated to the former Portuguese colonies.

History

Detail from the entrance gate at Parque dos Pequenitos

The construction of the park began in 1938, an initiative of professor Bissaya Barreto, following a project developed by architect Cassiano Branco.[1] The original building was inspired by Odeon theatre in Porto.[1] The first phase of the project occurred between 1938 and 1940, which involved the recreation of group of structures identified as typical homes, chapels, mills and pillories located of the Trás-os-Montes and Minho region.[1] The first phase was inaugurated on 8 June 1940.[1]

The beginning of the section, known as the monuments area began in the middle of the century, an area that illustrated many of the country's monuments and heritage sites.[1]

At the end of the 1950s, the third phase was concluded.[1] This section included pavilions dedicated to reconstitute artefacts and symbolic structures associated with the overseas provinces at the time.[1] In addition to buildings and motifs that included representations from Portuguese Africa, Brazil, Macau, India and East Timor, the area was circled by native flora, as well sa buildings for the Azores and Madeira.[1]

From 1959, the site was integrated into the heritage and patrimony of the Bissaya Barreto Foundation.[1]

Beginning in December 2003, a new space was open to act as visitor center for activities and pedagogical events, along with a sundial, both work designed by architect João Paulo Revez Conceição.[1] By 2007, the site had a maximum number of visitors, totally 331,000 visitors.[1]

Starting in 2015, in an attempt to transform and make the site more dynamic, the board proposed new Portuguese monuments and the introduction of more regional houses to the collection.[1]

Architecture

The site is situated on the left bank of the Mondego River, integrated into the buildings immediately near the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova (in the east), Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha (in the south) and the Convent of São Francisco (in the north).[1]

The thematic park includes miniature replicas that represent the monuments and other elements from the cultural heritage and patrimony in Portugal and world, divided into three thematic areas.[1]

The first section includes traditional architecture from various regional areas of Portugal, that included representations of manorhouses, houses of nobles and seigneurs from the Trás-os-Montes and Minho.[1] This includes typical homes from regions along with homes from orchards, gardens, mills and pillories. East of this area is a group representing Coimbra, with representations of monuments important to the city.[1]

The second area includes Portuguese monuments.

In the third section are ethnographic artefacts and monuments from Portuguese-speaking African countries, Brazil, Macau, India and Timor, encircled by vegetation.[1] The phase integrates the more important monuments from the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores.[1]

Examples of traditional signeurial homes from Alto Trás-os-Montes 
The Coimbra-related diorama of monuments, highlighted by the Sé Cathedral 
The monumental African pavilion near the entrance 
The diorama for the Azores with church and Portas do Mar 

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Matias, Cecília (2009), SIPA, ed., Portugal dos Pequenitos (IPA.00027217/PT020603160231) (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: SIPA – Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico, retrieved 7 December 2016

Sources

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