Óbidos medieval town & Buddha Eden tour

Learn about how Óbidos was, for centuries, a special place for the queens of Portugal. Queens like Catherine of Austria, Isabel of Aragon (aka “Queen Saint Isabel”), and Leonor de Avis all left a lasting legacy in Óbidos. Leonor, wife of the great King John II, created in Óbidos one of the earlier branches of her brainchild, the “Holy House of Mercy”. It is the oldest surviving hospital and relief network in the world and it was spread overseas during the days of the Portuguese Empire. She is remembered as the “Most Perfect Queen”.

We will take you to one of the most unexpected, impressive and inspiring sites in the center of Portugal: the Buddha Eden, the largest oriental garden of Europe – no less. 

It occupies a massive 35 hectares of land that are inhabited by hundreds of sculptures evocative of oriental cultures.  

You will find buddhas, pagodas, dragons, terracotta warriors- and much more. The project was born after the tragic destruction of the 1500-year-old Giant Buddhas of Bamiyan, in Afghanistan, in 2001. Dive in the East remaining in the West!

The site also includes a Garden of Modern and Contemporary Sculpture and a Garden of African Sculpture and Art.