Historic Gardens Heritage in Portugal: From the Originality of an Art to the Inventory Process

Citation: Silva, S.; Carvalho, P. Historic Gardens Heritage in Portugal: From the Originality of an Art to the Inventory Process. Sustainability 2022,14, 5978. https:// doi.org/10.3390/su14105978 Academic Editor: Peter J. Larkham Received: 6 April 2022 Accepted: 11 May 2022 Published: 14 May 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). sustainability Article Historic Gardens Heritage in Portugal: From the Originality of an Art to the Inventory Process Susana Silva * and Paulo Carvalho CEGOT—Centre of Studies in Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Coimbra, 3004-531 Coimbra, Portugal; [email protected] *Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: Although they are one of the richest expressions of cultural and landscape heritage, gardens are at the same time one of the most delicate. The preservation and protection of these landscapes are based on what we know of them from the inventories which, in the particular case of historic gardens, have increased since the 1980s, as recommended by the Florence Charter. Portugal has a vast and varied range of historic gardens defined as original and unique. The concern to protect them resulted in lists and inventories being drawn up over time, prompted by academic and institutional initiatives. This article proposes to analyze the inventories of Portuguese historic gardens, specifically in terms of their main characteristics, content, achievements and drawbacks, and to discuss their effectiveness. Twelve inventories were considered. The information was collected from several sources and organized in databases, which were then sampled for a content analysis. The findings show that each study unequivocally added to knowledge about Portuguese landscape art, but also revealed important structural weaknesses. These were found in the different approaches and data standards used and in the information itself, which was often incomplete and was not updated. In addition, information tended to be scattered and there was a lack of interaction between preservation tools. This led to the conclusion that this task is far from being completed and fully effective. The present analysis could provide useful insights and be a starting point to trigger discussion among garden heritage professionals and organizations about centralizing the information on gardens, and to combine efforts to plug the gaps in it, so that the inventory can play an effective part in the sustainable maintenance, management and safeguarding of these assets. Keywords: historic gardens heritage; inventories; knowledge; sustainable management and safeguarding; Portugal 1. Introduction Gardens are part of the cultural landscape of any civilization and society and reflect the culture, identity and history of a people [ 1 , 2 ]. Since it is composed of living plant material, a garden is a dynamic and constantly changing environment where different types of time (ecological, social and subjective) are brought together and interact [ 3 ], thus transforming this space throughout the infinite daily, monthly or annual life cycles [ 4 ]. A garden therefore becomes an unfinished work [ 5 ] and one that is necessarily ephemeral [ 6 ]. This dynamic transformation leads Sales [ 7 ] to say that a garden is not an object, but rather a process undergoing constant development and decomposition. As change in the landscape is unavoidable, the function of management is to be able to incorporate this change into the policies of preserving the values of the place. The first step in the process leading to the preservation and protection of cultural landscapes is knowing about their existence and their characteristics. Gardens are thus one of the richest, but also the most delicate, expressions of cultural and landscape heritage [ 8 , 9 ]. This is especially true of historic gardens, because of what they represent, which should be understood and preserved. The inventory is the first Sustainability 2022,14, 5978. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14105978 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Sustainability 2022,14, 5978 2 of 19 instrument in the process that leads to the safeguarding of the cultural heritage, as it allows the recognition of its existence. According to Meyers [ 10 ] (p. 102), “This principle makes inventories an essential tool for cultural heritage management in all of its various aspects”. The author [ 10 ] points out that inventories are essential to protect heritage from various constraints, both human and natural, to contribute to determine intervention priorities and to enable and provide a broader understanding and appreciation of, and public engagement with such places and their preservation. As such, it has been a constant premise of several documents on heritage conservation. Under the Principles for the Recording of Monuments, Groups of Buildings and Sites ratified by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), it is assumed that recording is one of the principal ways to give meaning to, and to understand, define and recognize the values of cultural heritage [ 11 ], and so promoting its effectiveness is a vital tool for sustainable heritage management [10]. Therefore, following this line of reflection, cataloguing historic gardens is a key element in protecting and safeguarding them; it is the first step in identifying, quantifying, and publicizing them and their value and importance, and it is also an essential tool to support decision making about their oversight and recovery [ 9 ]. However, the task of protecting and safeguarding such a delicate cultural heritage is hampered when the full legacy is not properly known. This handicap derives from the length of time during which gardens of historical interest were not taken seriously and only given scant attention in discussions about heritage [ 12 ]. The recognition process for historic gardens as part of the cultural heritage took a long time. It is in a broader framework of the need to protect heritage that historic gardens emerge, albeit largely implicitly until the Florence Charter specifically focused on historic gardens. The Portuguese Garden perfectly expresses the idea of a garden presented at the start, that is “a reflection of the culture, identity and history of a people”, because it has cultural features that are typically the result of particular circumstances in territorial, historical, cultural, political, religious, economic and social terms [ 8 , 13 ]. These sites represent an invaluable heritage and cultural value, one that is crucial for understanding Portuguese culture and for preserving national memory and identity. Therefore, the knowledge provided by an inventory is extremely important. However, in Portugal, historical gardens have never been a major interest, much less have they had any particular attention paid to them by the competent legislative and administrative authorities, at least in comparison with other forms of cultural heritage [ 14 ]. Proof of this are the many gardens that have been disappearing due to new urban needs, as well as those that have been undermined and lost their original historical and artistic character because of unregulated changes [ 8 , 14 – 16 ]. Additionally, since the vast majority of them are private property, closed to the public and often abandoned, cataloguing is not an easy task [ 9 ]. Ignorance of their existence and/or their real value have fueled this saga, and impoverished the country in terms of its heritage of historic gardens. In Portugal, it was mainly in the academic world that an interest in historical gardens, in learning about them and protecting them, manifested itself most clearly and fruitfully, resulting in some listings and inventories. However, state institutions linked both to the management and preservation of heritage and to the tourism sector have also been embracing this theme in recent decades. They have achieved this through partnerships and protocols with academia, which have led to more studies and inventories being carried out on landscape art. Their purpose is not only to remedy the previous lack of knowledge about this heritage, but also to make it accessible to everyone, at home and abroad. Constant references to the inventories of historic gardens and their authors were made in the various studies on gardens. However, there is a lack of general knowledge about those inventories and the information contained in them, since they have never been subjected to a more specific analysis in evolutionary and comparative terms, nor was their effectiveness discussed. That raised three key research questions that guided this work: (i) what inventories of historic gardens exist in Portugal; (ii) what are their characteristics, what kind of information do they include, where/how are they available; and (iii) what Sustainability 2022,14, 5978 3 of 19 constraints do they present with negative implications for the effective and sustainable management of this heritage. This paper proposes to analyze the inventories of historic gardens in Portugal over time, and answer the above questions. It will also look at the purposes and methodological process whenever the level of available information permits. 2. Literature Review 2.1. Historic Gardens as Cultural Landscapes Cultural landscapes are realities anchored in a long history of complex interaction between humans and nature [ 17 ]. Through their actions, humans have shaped the landscape, and the geographic and natural resources have in turn shaped the history and life of human societies. This means that nature and humans are the two most important factors in determining the character of landscapes. They can then provide information about the relationships established over time between societies and the natural environment, and can therefore contribute to the understanding of history, science, anthropology, technique, literature, among the other foundations of society. It is from this perspective that it makes sense to establish landscapes as cultural heritage, insofar as they are goods in constant evolution that are inherited, used and bequeathed to future generations [18]. As a result of this interaction, landscape consists of both natural and cultural components, which cannot be separated, and so it embraces a variety of manifestations that have been recognized in the framework of the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the World Heritage, Natural and Cultural. Cultural landscapes thus fall into three main categories, namely, landscape designed and created intentionally by man, organically evolved landscape and associative cultural landscape [17]. Landscapes are valued for their unique character and cultural heritage, and for providing feelings of attachment, belonging and inspiration [ 19 ]. Therefore, they are part of the cultural heritage and are key components of local, regional and national identities [ 20 ]. They are part of people’s collective identity, as recognized by UNESCO [ 17 ], and a core element of individual and social well-being, as admitted by the Council of Europe [ 21 ]. When the landscape is valued by itself, taking a memorial dimension and founding the identity of a group, this assumes a new assignment, to “express dreams” [ 22 ]. The best expression of this landscape category is, in the opinion of Andrade [ 23 ], the historic garden. Some of the most valued elements of worldwide cultural heritage are historic gardens [ 8 , 9 ]. Garden and parkland landscapes constructed for aesthetic reasons, and which are often (but not always) associated with religious or other monumental buildings and ensembles, belong to the category of landscape designed and created intentionally by man [17]. The historic garden is a creation of societies and a reflection of their history and different cultures; it bears witness to times past and the relationship of humans with nature and with the landscape. It is a complex architectural system, whose joint composition of life and the inert makes it a “Living Monument” [5]. The definition of the historic garden was formalized at the first international symposium on the conservation and restoration of gardens of historical interest, which was held in Fontainebleau (1971) on the initiative of ICOMOS and the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA). It was later adopted and institutionalized by the Florence Charter. A historic garden is described as an architectural and horticultural composition, applicable to a small garden or a large park, whether formal or landscape, of interest to the public from a historical or artistic point of view, and thus a monument, a living monument [ 24 ]. The term “historic” acquires a certain relativity, because gardens that have been produced in the past, whether recent or not, can be considered historic [ 25 ] so that “historic” transcends the value of antiquity [ 12 ]. This definition also has huge elasticity, in that it includes several types of gardens (regular or irregular, classic, baroque, romantic or landscape), which, since they represent an original work, are recognized as part of cultural heritage, and have a certain cultural value [ 25 ]. A historic garden is not a matter of age, stylistic features or dimensions; it is defined by its character and historical interest, for what it represents in terms of memorial, identity and culture, for the value it adds to the sites Sustainability 2022,14, 5978 4 of 19 and monuments it may be associated with and for what it awakens in the present [ 12 ]. It is this wide conceptual dimension of a historic garden that is considered in the course of this work about inventories. The ways in which cultural landscapes are understood and managed are vital to sustainability [ 17 , 26 ]. In the current context of increasing concerns about sustainability, and the great pressure cultural landscapes are under due to climate, demographic, social and ideological changes [ 26 ], it is fitting to recall how historic gardens have been understood, managed and valued, and what role inventories have played in this process. 2.2. Safeguarding and Enhancing Historic Gardens over Time and the Inventory Figure Until the 1980s, the guidelines in documents such as the Conventions, Recommendations and Resolutions produced and disseminated by UNESCO, ICOMOS and ICOMOSIFLA, and even the Council of Europe, did not make any specific reference to historic gardens, although some of them could be adapted and applied to this heritage asset. One example is the 1931 Athens Charter, the first instrument for the conservation and preservation of monuments. It considered the need to study and preserve their surroundings, specifically the ornamental vegetation, and where the inventory was already mentioned as the responsibility of each State or of institutions with due power [ 27 ]. The Recommendation concerning the Safeguarding of Beauty and Character of Landscapes and Sites, presented by UNESCO in 1962, laid down guidelines for the protection of landscapes and natural sites, rural and urban, whether or not resulting from the “work of man”, which were of aesthetic, and cultural interest or that constituted characteristic natural surroundings [28]. In 1964, the Venice Charter on the conservation and restoration of monuments and sites formally expressed the extension of the concept of monument to other elements such as the landscape and, although there is no concrete reference to historic gardens, there is an appeal to the need to preserve the traditional framework [27]. Although interest in gardens and their protection had arisen at the time of the Universal and International Exhibitions, which occurred before the Second World War [ 29 ], it should be noted that it was only in the late 1960s that the specific Section for gardens was set up by the IFLA. The purpose was to discuss an approach for dealing with gardens of historical interest and it set out to identify and catalogue the major historical gardens in various countries around the world, a total of 1550 in all [ 6 , 12 ]. The International Committee of Historic Gardens and Sites was established in the early 1970s at the Fontainebleau meeting, as a subdivision of ICOMOS and IFLA. It was intended to investigate and inventory the gardens of greatest interest, which made the promotion of conservation, restoration and research of historic gardens and cultural landscapes more effective [ 1 ]. This meeting also formalized the definition of historic garden and made recommendations for safeguarding gardens. Still in the 1970s, the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage held that cultural and natural heritage can be proposed as world heritage, with cultural heritage including places of interest, which includes the works of man, or the combined works of man and nature. The importance of inventories was again mentioned [ 27 ]. The Burra Charter, first adopted in this decade, established guidelines for conserving places of cultural significance, defining terminologies and principles of intervention in architectural and landscape heritage [30]. A new attitude developed towards gardens, principally since the 1980s with the drafting of the Florence Charter by ICOMOS-IFLA International Committee for Historic Gardens, as an addendum to the Venice Charter, covering the specific field of safeguarding historic gardens that was missing. This document defined the historic garden, assigned it the status of a monument, a “living monument” perishable over time and with use, and established a set of principles for interventions in the maintenance, conservation, restoration and reconstruction, use and the legal and administrative protection of this heritage. Furthermore, its Article 9 explicitly drew attention to the importance of identifying and creating listings, along with their relationship with effectiveness in the protection and preservation of historic gardens [ 24 ]. The production of garden listings, inventories and Sustainability 2022,14, 5978 5 of 19 registers has since thrived, involving central and local authorities and even civil society. Take the case of the United Kingdom, for example, where each country has its own heritage agency to draw up inventories of parks and gardens and, in addition to the National Register, a number of other agencies, authorities and local associations keep registers of historic parks and gardens [31]. Within the broad spectrum of cultural heritage, guidelines continue to emerge in the various documents produced after the Florence Charter that can be adapted to the preservation of historic gardens. Among the most relevant are the Granada Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe approved by the Council of Europe in 1985, the Washington Charter for the Conservation of Historic Towns and Urban Areas adopted by ICOMOS in 1987, the previous versions of and the current Burra Charter issued by Australia ICOMOS, the Charter of Krakow 2000 about the Principles for Conservation and Restoration of Built Heritage and the European Landscape Convention of the Council of Europe (2000). Pursuing the goal of knowing and safeguarding this heritage, a European database of gardens has been set up more recently by the European Institute for Gardens and Landscapes (IEJP), which so far includes data from Portugal, France, Belgium and England in a total of about 18,000 historic gardens. Several other inventories from different European countries are currently being compiled to be added to this database [32]. In addition, some initiatives that have been developed to enhance and publicize historic gardens within Europe should be mentioned. Examples include the European Cultural Heritage Information Network (HEREIN), the European Garden Heritage Network, the Network of European Royal Residences and the European Historic Houses Association. It is also important to mention the European Route of Historic Gardens, a Council of the Europe Cultural Route, seen as the best way to recognize its historical, artistic and social value [33]. In the Portuguese context, historic gardens have never been a major concern. Nonetheless, the Law on Portuguese Cultural Heritage includes a specific reference to historic gardens. It recognizes them as a cultural asset and therefore one of the components of the general valuation regime (Article 70 º ), and an element that enhances the coherence of monuments, ensembles and sites (Article 44 º ) [ 34 ]. Although it provides two levels of heritage registration—classification and inventory—with a view to ensuring their legal protection and valuation and to prevent their disappearance or degradation, it does not define a historic garden or a specific legal regime, which jeopardizes a more effective protection. 2.3. The Cultural Specificity and the Differentiating Nature of the Portuguese Historic Garden Portuguese gardens are not comparable to those in countries such as England, France or Italy. The ultimate purpose of displaying or being a symbol of ostentation and power is not part of the essence of the Portuguese garden. On the contrary, a garden was built as an extension of the house and therefore to be habitable, as a haven, intimate and quiet, a place of charm and well-being with nooks and crannies, a crypto-magical spot, more to be enjoyed from within it than admired from the outside [8,35]. The Portuguese garden, originating as an orchard garden, has gone through times and trends and over the centuries has found ways to adapt to circumstances and absorb the various influences that came its way. Caldeira Cabral [ 8 ] sees a concept of Portuguese garden being created under a series of varied circumstances and a mix of influences that made it different and unique. Their location between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, the climate, the sociopolitical and economic history, organization and social evolution, together with the rugged topography have left Portuguese gardens imbued with a set of characteristic and distinctive features that give them a character and originality that distinguishes them from the large European gardens to which the general public will be accustomed [8,13]. In the opinion of Castel-Branco [ 13 ], the variety of flowering trees and shrubs; the deep views and prospects; the different levels that form terrace-gardens; the tiles with Sustainability 2022,14, 5978 6 of 19 various motifs and colors; large water surfaces in the form of pools, lakes, fountains or monumental fountains, often functioning as the polarizing elements of the area, are the key elements of a Portuguese garden. Other important identifiers define the very essence of the Portuguese garden. They include trellises and arbors, flower beds (alegretes), decorative shell-and-pebble masonry (embrechados), benches and other embellishments (natural and artificial), paths and high walls/hedges, which can be found alone or combined, especially in the large quintas de recreio (recreational farms) (a cluster formed by woods, a formal garden next to the house and a vegetable garden/orchard) of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries [8,13,35–37]. The concept of a garden as a closed space and somewhere to be became diluted in Romanticism, with the influence of European aesthetics, and, above all, with the fashion of the eighteenth and nineteenth century English garden park. The Renaissance period also fostered the development of the monumental religious landscape of the north and, in the second half of the eighteenth century, botanical gardens made their appearance. The twentieth century saw the modernist style making its mark on some national parks [8,35]. According to Caldeira Cabral [ 8 ], from north to south and including the islands, Portugal has a wide and diverse spectrum of gardens from the most varied periods, and they display characteristic cultural features. The examples, albeit in different states of preservation, range from the Roman peristyles and mediaeval cloisters to twentieth-century public parks, by way of quintas de recreio, convent and monastery landscapes, sanctuaries, botanical gardens, private and public gardens, parks, avenues and squares of historical, cultural and artistic value and interest. The assortment of types of gardens and the mixture of styles characterize the originality of the art of landscaping in Portugal [8,35]. 3. Materials and Methods The concern with historic gardens has for decades been confined mainly to the academic environment and to some personalities, resulting in a set of listings and inventories, rooted in the early twentieth century, mostly limited in terms of coverage of the national territory as a whole (mainland and islands). It was only in the 1980s that this interest was extended to the institutional decision-making bodies, and protocols began to emerge between various institutions for inventorying gardens. To accomplish the defined objectives, three major steps were taken. First, bibliographic research was carried out on the inventories of Portuguese historic gardens to find out what inventories existed, their authors and where and how the information was available. The next step was to gather all available information on those inventories in their different formats, analogue and digital, which were scattered throughout the various Portuguese libraries and digital platforms. At the same time, a database was organized with the most relevant information for each inventory, that is to say authorship, type and number of inventoried spaces, their location, and the type of information available on each garden. A qualitative analysis was then carried out on the content, and the outcome is summarized in the next section, with the purposes and the methodological process of carrying out each inventory being added whenever the available information allowed. Table 1lists the inventories and similar works that constitute the scope of this study. They are presented chronologically along with information on the geographic area covered. It should be noted that the bibliography discreetly mentions two other works that were started, one in the 1940s and the other in the 1960s, but which were not completed or published. Sustainability 2022,14, 5978 7 of 19 Table 1. Inventories of (historic) gardens in Portugal. Inventory/Authors Year Territory (1) Sousa Viterbo 1906/1909 Mainland (2) I. Araújo 1962 North (3) A. Carapinha 1986 Mainland (4) H. Carita & A. H. Cardoso 1987 Mainland (5) L. Ribeiro 1992 Lisbon (6) DGEMN & University of Évora 90s No information (7) CEABN 1998 Mainland (8) UTAD 2008 Northeast Mainland (9) CEABN & University of Algarve 2014 Lisbon (10) DGPC/SIPA-Green Space 2016/2018 Mainland and Islands (11) CEABN & IEJP 2018 Mainland and Islands (12) AJH 2020 Mainland and Islands Note: DGEMN—General Directorate of Buildings and National Monuments; CEABN—Baeta Neves Centre for Applied Ecology; UTAD—University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro; DGPC—General Directorate for Cultural Heritage; SIPA—Architectural Heritage Information System; IEJP—European Institute for Gardens and Landscapes; AJH—Portuguese Association of Historic Gardens. 4. Results This research has identified a wide range of inventories, including public and private and in partnership. The main characteristics of the 12 inventories carried out in Portugal and subjected to analysis are summarized in Table 2. It contains their fundamental characteristics and the type of information covered. Differences and achievements of each inventory, as well as the purposes and methodological process involved, are developed in the text. The historian Sousa Viterbo [ 36 , 38 ] produced a first work, A Jardinagem em Portugal (Gardening in Portugal) (1, Table 2), in which he expresses concern about the serious threat that gardens might disappear because they are not studied, registered or protected by specific legislation. The two editions of the work do not have the rigid and systematic character of an inventory; they mainly focus on gardening techniques and the gardeners. However, the author does list a series of remarkable gardens, mostly quintas de recreio, describing about 50 units in some detail, especially at the historical level. He refers to many others, mainly located in the large urban centers of Lisbon, Porto and surrounding areas (Figure 1a). In the early 1960s, Ilídio de Araújo [ 39 ] published A Arte Paisagista e a Arte dos Jardins em Portugal (Landscape Art and the Art of Gardens in Portugal) (2, Table 2). This work was regarded as pioneering in the study of gardens and has served as a reference for subsequent studies until today. However, only a first volume was published, which covered only the north of the country and did not claim to be complete. Based on an extensive collection of relevant literature and visits to the places, the author produced a list of landscape art. In addition to this list, the author adds other gardens, some of which are covered in detail while others are simply mentioned, in total about 200 sites, also showing a larger concentration in the Porto and Lisbon areas (Figure 1b). This inventory confirms the importance and profusion of places of a religious nature in the northern region. The gardens are described in varying amounts of detail and include information about geographical location, historical and architectural aspects. They are illustrated with photographs and sometimes with the architectural plans, indicating the literature references for each space. Sustainability 2022,14, 5978 8 of 19 Table 2. Summary of inventory information. Inventory/ Authors Results No Type of Space Information Final Product (1) Sousa Viterbo +/−90 Quintas de recreio, gardens of manor houses and palaces, botanical gardens, public parks and gardens Historical description Publication of book (2) I. Araújo +/−190 Quintas de recreio, gardens of manor houses and palaces, places of pilgrimage, convent and monastery landscapes, parks, public gardens Geographic framework, chronological description with historical and architectural aspects Publication of illustrated book (3) A. Carapinha 1117 Quintas de recreio (49%), public gardens and parks (urban and suburban) (16%), private gardens and parks (15%), private gardens and parks open to the public, botanical gardens, non-urban parks and woodland, places of pilgrimage, open urban spaces, hunting reserves, convent and monastery landscapes - Unpublished work Chorographic file, a file of inventoried places on working maps at scales 1/250,000, 1/50,000, 1/25,000 and 1/10,000 (4) H. Carita & A. H. Cardoso +/−150 Quintas de recreio, gardens of manor houses and palaces, convent and monastery landscapes, places of pilgrimage, parks, public gardens, botanical gardens Historical, architectural aspects and features of gardens Publication of illustrated book (5) L. Ribeiro +500 Quintas de recreio List, map, descriptions Unpublished work (6) DGEMN & Univ. Évora 260 Gardens, convent and monastery landscapes, hunting reserves and parks Record, description and historical background, pictures and drawings, chronological data, practical or relevant elements Computerized database (7) CEABN 121 Quintas de recreio, gardens of private houses, gardens of palaces and castles, botanical gardens, parks, convent and monastery landscapes, woodland, hunting reserves, other landscape sites Identification sheet: location map, geographic framework, description with historical and architectural information, state of conservation, description of the main elements, ownership, owner’s name, address, how to access, tourist information and reception conditions), associated activity, images Unpublished work Publication of illustrated book (8) UTAD 274 Private gardens and quintas de recreio (70.1%), public gardens and parks (13.5%), avenue and square, sanctuary, cloister, woodland park, spa/warm springs park, convent and monastery landscapes, university campus, cemeteries Inventory record: identifying information (the internal reference, designation, typology, ownership and location at three administrative levels), current use, georeferenced map, description (typology, structure and spatial organization, varieties of flora and significant decorative elements, integrity and state of conservation, historical information), bibliography, public edition field, images Website (www.artepaisagista. utad.pt/) Online database (currently disabled, migration of information to the European platform) (9) CEABN & Univ. Algarve 60 Gardens, farms and historical parks, public and private - Online database—LX Gardens Database (not available) Sustainability 2022,14, 5978 9 of 19 Table 2. Cont. Inventory/ Authors Results No Type of Space Information Final Product (10) DGPC/SIPAGreen Space (2014) 574 Gardens, quintas de recreio, convent and monastery landscapes, hunting reserves, woods, parks, playing fields, landscaped gardens, cemeteries Inventory record: identification of IPA category, IPA number, designation, location, typology and stylistic characterization, description, accesses, protection, level, framework, supplementary description, initial use, actual use, property, allocation, construction time, architect/builder/author, chronology, technical data, materials/construction techniques/networks and equipment, bibliography, graphic, photographic and administrative documentation, performed intervention, observations, author and date, updating Online database—SIPA (www.monumentos.gov.pt/) (10) DGPC/SIPAGreen Space (2022) 405 Gardens (76%), parks (16%), clusters of green spaces, spaces for growing plants, spaces for playing sport, spaces for walking around (11) CEABN & IEJP 743 All of the types already mentioned Inventory record: designation, location at four levels, owner and type of owner, creation date, address, contacts, websites, geographic coordinates, location map, EN abstract, history, surroundings, description, administrative information (statute, classification and protection, legal instruments, surface in ha), botany, physiography and topography, pedology, climate, other characteristics, scenic intrusions in the surrounding area, activities and events, bibliography, digital documents (pictures, maps, aerial images), characteristics of the garden/park including typology, decorative elements, mode of opening to the public Online European database (http://europeangardens.eu/ inventories/pt) (12) AJH 821 Quintas de recreio, botanical gardens, public parks and gardens, convent landscapes and sanctuaries Inventory record: property, public access, utilization, if part of a route, information about visiting times and contacts, description (location, surroundings and relevant elements, chronology, descriptive, built and decorative elements, vegetation, relevant inscriptions), classification, authorship and date, bibliography, location map and pictures Online database (https: //www.jardinshistoricos.pt/ home/search) Sustainability 2022,14, 5978 16 of 19 extensively sometimes, while the landscape heritage is disregarded. In the CEABN & IEJP inventory, the information is given in a better organized, more complete, disaggregated form, with some items being specified. However, not all records in the ongoing inventories have all the fields fully filled out with up-to-date information. For instance, in SIPA only about 5% of the records are complete (level 1), and in the Inventory of Gardens and Landscapes in Portugal only 23% of the records have been fully, or almost fully, filled out (2022 data), mainly for the well-known gardens, and the gardens that appear in previous works. In addition, the information is not yet available in other languages as it is supposed to be, just a small abstract in English. These inventories are permanent and still running, and so have time and space to improve, unlike the others, which are closed documents. There was also a development in the final product that had implications for the accessibility to information. The transfer of published and unpublished works to digital platforms allows not only the continuous input of information but also access to a larger audience, a fact that helps to propagate and promote heritage and foster public engagement with such places and their preservation. SIPA allows new inventory records to be input by users registered on the platform. Common to all works is a clear concern to learn about and document this fragile heritage with a view to preserving it. The theoretical framework sees landscape inventories as important working tools able to contribute to deciding on priority actions for the recovery, conservation and protection of these spaces [ 5 , 9 , 10 ]. The analyzed inventories are, above all, an information repository for which it is difficult to establish a concrete direct relationship with effective actions to protect, preserve and enhance the Portuguese landscape heritage. This is because of a set of limitations and constraints which could compromise the real effectiveness of inventories in the management and protection of this heritage. These constraints are related to: 1. Portuguese legislation, which sees the inventory as one of the instruments for the protection of cultural heritage but does not set out the inventory procedure or the content that must be included. Data standards for landscape heritage were developed based on the needs and ambitions of each inventory and the result is a lack of uniformity and different levels of information; 2. The available information in the ongoing inventories is neither systematic nor up to date, let alone exhaustive, as required by Article 6 of Law no. 107/2001. At SIPA, the information about the protection status is updated but other priorities and the lack of financial investment and personnel to continue this work are among the reasons given for this situation; 3. The results of some projects have been confined to their own management structure. This is despite their dissemination at meetings or conferences, which are mainly aimed at a specific audience. Thus, some databases have never been available online until today, others are no longer available but can be consulted in reference libraries, academic libraries or other records offices, along with the oldest studies; 4. The multiplication of online platforms with inventories means an unnecessary replication and dispersion of similar information, teams, efforts and expenses; 5. The lack of interplay between the legal instruments of protection considered in the legislation—inventory and classification. This means that the classification does not follow the inventory, which has been carried out more or less systematically. In fact, a relatively small percentage of gardens have been classified compared to the number of gardens inventoried. One cause of this is the succession and uncoordinated coexistence of institutions responsible for cultural heritage that led to the duplication of competences and wastage of resources. It should be noted that some of these issues are not exclusive to Portugal. In the European context it is common not to have a specific central authority or specific legislation focusing on gardens; therefore, their protection tends to be integrated in Institutions and in the legal regulations defined for heritage in general. Serbia is one example where parks and gardens are included in national legislation [ 52 ]. For example, the spread of information Sustainability 2022,14, 5978 17 of 19 across various documentary sources and the multiplication of state and non-state digital platforms also happens in United Kingdom, France [ 31 ] and even Australia [ 53 ]. These have inventories at different territorial scales, which is not the case in Portugal. However, in the case of Australia, there is some agreement between databases and there has been an effort to centralize information [ 53 ]. In England, the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, a statutory document, imposes high selection criteria for a garden to be included in the Register, focusing on age, rarity, completeness of condition and examples of the work of known national and local designers. In addition, sites less than 30 years old are normally registered only if they are of outstanding quality and under threat [31], something that does not happen in the ongoing inventories in Portugal. 6. Conclusions This paper has focused on the analysis of a set of inventories of historical gardens carried out over the years in the academic world and also on the initiative of the institutional environment. The content analysis allows to recognize that each study, listing and inventory carried out at different times by different figures, groups and entities with different methodologies and purposes has helped to enrich knowledge of the Portuguese landscape heritage. This reflects the growing interest in its protection and preservation, which, on some occasions, resulted in protocols between institutions for the recovery of gardens being fulfilled. It also leads to the conclusion that this is not an easy heritage to inventory, and it is only possible to protect what is properly known. Some weaknesses were identified that can be reduced to two major dimensions: information and its organization, systematization, standardization, updating, completeness and availability; and legislation and its clarification, specification, integration and cooperation. It thus seems clear that in the case of Portugal, for inventories to fulfill their core objective and be effective, it is particularly necessary that heritage and garden heritage professionals, together with the relevant entities, cooperate, discuss and understand the possibility and the advantages of centralizing information about historic gardens in a single list. For this to happen, it is crucial to analyze the existing inventories, to discover more details about the strengths and weaknesses in terms of information, which will allow a sounder understanding of what further work needs to be completed. Solid data standards should be defined consistently and validly over time, with a specific legal framework that establishes a typology of spaces and specifies what information should be added, while ensuring there is a balance, such that the inventory can be compiled in accordance with Article 6 of Law no. 107/2001. Information must be the target of a permanent and systematic investment, both financial and in human resources, which can be achieved by creating and maintaining a team of dedicated professionals to carry out this task on a permanent basis. The effectiveness of the inventory also requires establishing a broad compromise between the heritage legal framework, the entities and the inventory process, so that the information produced leads to classification and also to the creation of specific legislation for historic gardens. If this is not taken into account soon, not only will sustainable heritage management be compromised, but eventually the preservation and safeguarding of these heritage assets will be jeopardized, too, together with their access, new uses and interpretations by society. In this regard, tourism has been seen as a strategic vehicle to safeguard, value and ensure their cultural and economic sustainability. Inventories and the information they contain are crucial not only to support the implementation and development of tourism strategies based on innovative and effective interpretation techniques, but to prevent any damage that might arise from tourist use. The lack of access to information in some databases and the slowness of the entities in providing data or clarification on them did not permit a deeper analysis of certain inventories. Despite such limitations, this paper enriches our understanding about the historic gardens’ inventory process by gathering information, and through the evolutionary Sustainability 2022,14, 5978 18 of 19 and comparative analysis carried out. It also provides some insights for a future endeavor with regard to the inventory of historic gardens. Author Contributions: Conceptualization, methodology, investigation, resources, data curation, writing—original draft, writing—review & editing, visualization, supervision, S.S.; writing—review and editing, visualization, supervision, P.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. Funding: This research was funded by FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology, grant number FCT_SFRH/BD/85081/2012 and also received support from the Centre of Studies in Geography and Spatial Planning (CEGOT), funded by national funds through the FCT under reference UIDB/04084/2020. Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable. Data Availability Statement: Not applicable. Acknowledgments: We would like to express our sincere thanks to FCT and CEGOT for supporting this research and to Jean Ann Burrows, a native English speaker, for her valuable contribution in translating this paper. Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. References 1. Añón, C.F. 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