Jardim da Anta

It owes its name to the existence of a "Tapir", a megalithic funerary monument from prehistory or a dolmen with a corridor, dating from 3000 BC (about 5000 years old).

The Tapir de Agualva, considered in 1910 as a National Monument, features a polygonal funerary chamber composed of seven of the pillars that would initially comprise it and is still in its original place, although quite fragmented.

Jardim da Anta is a medium-sized space, with lawns and large trees that provide plenty of areas of shade, the presence of a small stream, gives a pleasant sound when there is a flow of its flow increasing its potential as an area of recreation.

Comprised of a children's playground, a tennis court, an amphitheater and a cultural space, the garden has since 6 April 2017 a new face for visitors, the result of the requalification and musealization carried out by the Municipality of Sintra. An observation circuit of the monument was created with a wooden walkway, resting on the floor, which highlights the idea of ​​a sensitive and untouchable landscape.

The existing tracks have all been rehabilitated, which includes two passages over the river, existing there, as well as the cleaning and regularization of the margins, which will allow a safe experience and full visibility over the monument

For the Anta landscape design project, the characteristics of the site and the specific requirements of the “sensitive landscape” in which it is inserted were considered. The implantation of the monument in the middle of the Mediterranean carrascal, with a good state of development and density, constitutes protection to the Tapir. The high landscape, cultural and botanical value of this vegetation cover, on skeletal soil with some rocky outcrops, alone requires the complete preservation of this complex. This Mediterranean carrascal constitutes an emblematic landscape of the entire Iberian Peninsula (since Prehistory), constitutes in this place an “ideal frame” for framing the monument.

With the requalification, restoration and musealisation of the Tapir of Carrascal, also known as the Tapir of Agualva, the municipality intended to return the monumental dignity to the megalithic grave, cleaning it and consolidating the elements that constitute it, as well as the surrounding area, transforming it in a garden with observation and passage areas.

Monday to Sunday: 00h00 to 24h00

Source: https://parquesejardins.sintra.pt/index.php/module-styles/jardim-da-anta