History
The Botanical Garden of Lourizán was created in 1949 under the denomination Arboretum with an objective of research and experimentation and, at the same time, with a didactic and recreational purpose.
The Botanical Garden along with the ‘Centro de Investigación Forestal de Lourizán’ are located in a land of 52 ha, located on the north slope of the Morrazo Peninsula, close to the estuary “Ría de Pontevedra” and facing the Tambo Island and the town of Combarro. The property, previously denominated ‘Granxa da Serra’, was acquired by the ‘Deputación Provincial de Pontevedra’ to the heirs of Mr. Eugenio Montero Rios in 1941. The current structure of the property is the sum of its successive uses, comprising very interesting elements like the ‘hórreo’ (granary on stone pillars) and the ‘aira’ (a ground near a house, made of land or stone) from its time as a farm; the manor, the greenhouse and the gardens were built by Montero Ríos at late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with an important modernist influence; and finally, buildings and plantations for their current use as a research center. Principal components of the garden ‘Xardín de Montero Ríos’ are: the ‘Invernadoiro’ (greenhouse), the ‘Mesa de Pedra’, the park ‘Parque das Rías’ and the cave ‘Cova dos Espellos’.
