Miradouro do Passeio das Virtudes

The Miradouro do Passeio das Virtudes hangs over the granite retaining walls of the old hospital gardens, offering a view of the Douro River that frames the terraced roofs of Miragaia. This terrace exists because of the nineteenth-century botanist Antonio Jose Pereira Coutinho, who transformed the steep, unusable slope into a private garden filled with exotic species. He spent decades layering the hillside with stone paths and climbing plants, turning a rugged defensive embankment into a terraced landscape for the city.