Buçaco is a fanatic forest in the Centro region, about 30 minutes from Coimbra.  In its heart is the Bussaco Palace Hotel, built in 1906 by the Portuguese Crown as a royal lodge. It is a neo-Manueline-Gothic masterpiece with all sorts of whimsical details, and the forest is home to some of the oldest trees in Europe.

 


Benedictine monks first settled this forest in the 6th Century. A Papal Bull of 1622 declared that any woman entering the forest would be excommunicated. In 1628 the Carmelites Order built a monastery and surrounded the 250-acre forest with a wall, where over the centuries monks planted nearly 400 Portuguese varieties of trees, shrubs, and flowers while importing some 300 species from all over the world. Part of the convent was incorporated into a palace in the late 19th century and the only parts of the original building that remain are the cloisters, the chapel and some cells. The charming rural convent has a number of hermitages and chapels scattered throughout the forest, which, together with the numerous lakes and crosses, lend this place its magical quality. Bussaco also houses one of the country’s finest restaurants, boasting a superb wine list. A meal in the palatial dining room is sure to be a memorable occasion. The Bussaco is one of the best-known

hotels in Portugal and it has become a tourist magnet in its own right.

 

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