HISTORIC PALACE gardens shut for months due to restorations works look set to continue because of an inability to water them.
Work on restoring the 18th century Baroque summer residence Queluz Palace, near Lisbon, have been ongoing since 1990 and by 2003 had cost the state 6.3 million euros.
But the gardens depend on an intricate irrigation system conceived by architect Manuel da Maia, the King’s Chief Architect responsible for the rebuilding of Lisbon after the Great Earthquake in 1755, and this is proving difficult to repair.
The watering system had been complemented by a new 800,000 euro state-of-the-art irrigation system that has also ground to a halt.
The restoration programme, launched in 2001, counted on the re-establishment and modernisation of the entire 18th century hydraulic system, including water trapping and reservoir systems, and transport and distribution networks abandoned decades ago.
The idea was to reactivate and recreate the water system, including conduits and pumps serving and powering fountains and ornamental lakes, keeping it as close to the original 18th century idea as possible.
Six years on, and nearly a million euros down the drain, only a part of the project has been completed and that doesn’t work.
The Portuguese Institute of Museums, Instituto dos Museus e Conservação – IMC, which has been in charge of the project since last year, says that a number of problems have been identified and the project will be completed “depending on funds”.
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