Bombarral

In the orchard country of the Oeste, between the walled town of Óbidos and the abbey lands of Alcobaça, Bombarral lives from its vines and its pear orchards — a small town of the Leiria district where wine and the sweet Rocha pear ripen on the same gentle hills, and home to one of the strangest gardens in Europe. The Buddha Eden park, a garden of statues, is in the municipality, see Buddha Eden Park.

A garden of peace among the vines

On the wine estate of the Quinta dos Loridos, the collector José Berardo laid out the Buddha Eden, the Garden of Peace, in 2001 as an answer to the destruction of the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan. About thirty-five hectares of the estate are given to monumental Buddhas of granite and marble, lanterns, pagodas, a terrace of terracotta warriors and quiet lakes, and the garden is billed as the largest oriental garden in Europe. Paths run for kilometres between the sculptures, and koi drift under the pagodas.

Wine, pears and old abbey land

The garden stands on working wine country: the estate still harvests its vineyards around the statues, and the wider municipality is farming land of small properties where wine and the pêra-rocha pear dominate. The land belonged for centuries to the great Cistercian abbey of Alcobaça Monastery, whose monks organised this countryside, and the walled town of Óbidos guards the road west to the lagoon. Wine tastings at the local estates pair the two histories, garden and vineyard, in a single afternoon.

What to see

• The Buddha Eden Garden of Peace at the Quinta dos Loridos
• The monumental Buddhas, terracotta warriors and lakes
• The vineyards and wine tastings of the local estates
• The Rocha pear orchards of the Oeste
• The road to Óbidos and the lagoon coast

Practical information

Bombarral lies in the Leiria district, in the Centro region, about an hour north of Lisbon by the A8 motorway, with Óbidos a short drive west. The garden is large: allow several hours, wear comfortable shoes, and check the official websites before setting out.

Image credit: Buddha eden (3) by Carlos Luis M C da Cruz — public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.