Bishop´s Palace gardens Photo

Photographer’s Note

Hi dear Trekearth friends !

Again in Castelo Branco. One of my favorite cities of the Portugal.

Those who visit Castelo Branco may observe two distinct areas: the ancient Medieval town, with its steep and narrow streets where many Manueline doorways can still be admired, and a great modern zone, characteristic of a developing city.

Castelo Branco (white castle) rises on the slope of a hill that dominates a plateau region; thus its historical function as a defensive fortress which is confirmed by the castle, from where one can view a panorama that stretches until the frontier and the slopes of Gardunha, overlooking the upper course of the river Tagus.

However, the city´s main attraction is the extraordinary Jardim do Paço (Bishop´s Palace gardens), created in the 18th century by bishop João de Mendonça. Of formal layout, its singularity lies in the abundant granite statues which can be seen between the box groves, lining stairways or contemplating their reflection in the lake´s waters: of Baroque style, they represent saints and apostles, kings, lions, the signs of the Zodiac...

Still worth visiting are the Bishop´s Palace, which now lodges the Proença Júnior Museum (archaeological finds, 16th-century tapestries, etc.), the Religious Art Museum, the handsome Cruzeiro de S. João (15th-century cross) and all of the old town.

In terms of gastronomy, the region´s cheese is well known, and the handicrafts include the famous bedspreads of Castelo Branco, artistic embroideries of fine silk on natural linnen, with motifs reflecting a characteristic symbology.

besnard, ahmetgedikli, Paolo, Cara, efigesta, Gerrit, ktanska, carper, Tue, leonorkuhn, vagabondtravels, sergio1, isabela_sor, ChrisJ, Vato_Law, Emile, bakes888, axiotea, siolaw, flory, Henryk_Bilor, coco, riclopes, ruisc_pt has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

besnard (30560) 2007-01-22 3:02

Bonjour Aires
Très belle composition de ces jardins ensoleillés qui doivent être intéressants à parcourir j'imagine. L'oranger forme un bon 1er plan et j'aime les ombres des statues que as bien saisies.
Merci pour le partage et bonne journée.
Nicole

UnTrained (0) 2007-01-22 3:26

Olá Aires,
the shadows of the statues are a wonderful impression. I would like to relax a bit in this garden, seems to be a beautiful calm place and also has some sweet oranges. It is a wonderful afternoon capture with marvelous colors.
Cheers, Ulf

Paolo (40694) 2007-01-22 4:04

Hi Aires, amazing image with a fantastic light and wonderful colours in the garden and the fountaine.
good POV and excellent quality.
thanks, ciao

Cara (2029) 2007-01-22 4:34

Olá Aires,
Bonito POV, cores e enquadramentos muito bem realizados!
As sombras dão 1 efeito soberbo!
Parabéns!

ribeiroantonio (21891) 2007-01-22 4:41

Tenho uma vaga ideia deste local pois a única vez que o visitei foi já há muitos anos quando ainda era miúdo. Mas lembro-me da escadaria com todas as estátuas. A foto está muito linda e dá-nos uma vista muito diferente da que é habitual ver nos panfletos turísticos da terra. Gosto muito das sombras do primeiro plano porque nos dão uma ideia muito aproximada da forma das estátuas do lado esquerdo e que não se veem em pormenor. As laranjas parecem estar lá para alimentar os bispos. Muito boa.
António

ahmetgedikli (21841) 2007-01-22 4:57

Ola Aires,
I like of this the alignment and shadows.
Good colors, light and sharpness.
Best wishes.
Ahmet

efigesta (12181) 2007-01-22 5:34

ola amigo
interessante composição esta, bom ponto de vista com boas cores e gosto das sombras e da nota
bjs
manuel

gemlik (969) 2007-01-22 5:59

hi,nice shot; colors and light are beautiful with lovely organges and orange flowers on the tree.thanks for sharing with TE,
Best Regards
Bulent

Gerrit (35613) 2007-01-22 6:53

Hi Aires,
good picture with the oranges and the shadows of the statue as main characters in this remarkable play.
Regards, Gerrit

delkoo (34244) 2007-01-22 7:10

hi aires
a lot of statue in this place, as an army watching the house, nice POV AND COLOURS.
REGARDS
DIDIER

ktanska (16530) 2007-01-22 7:37

Hi Aires,
There's lots of nice details on this one. Row of shadows that starts from the distance and curves to lower right. Deep blue on the pool. And oranges. Very nice place that offers lots of photo opportunities.
Kari

berek (28871) 2007-01-22 8:03

Ola Aires,
I like this garden design. beautiful and colour fool. shadows are interesting. beautiful view from your beautiful country. have a nice day.
Burak
***

barrufeto_77 (25719) 2007-01-22 8:22

Hola Aires.

La luz era buena, eso está claro, y el juego que haces con las sombras me gusta mucho.

Un saludo, OScar

carper (64638) 2007-01-22 10:08

a very nice place here Aires,
good point of view, not easy but nice, good perspective, and good details, very good photo job.
gr. jaap

Tue (25608) 2007-01-22 11:10

Hej Aires,
Great shot, well composed. There's a lovely atmosphere in these gardens. I like the combination of architecture and nature in the photo. The row of statues, and the shadows, look great too. Well done!
Hilsen,
Lars

aralda (1240) 2007-01-22 11:17

Wow, quite an agglomeration of sculptures! Love the environment, with the orange trees and the pool.
Raluca

leonorkuhn (13559) 2007-01-22 12:07

Olá Aires,

Sem dúvida um local muito bonito. Os jardins do Palácio Episcopal estão carregados de laranjas (ou limões?). Excelente perspectiva, nitidez, cores e luminosidade. As sombras fazem um desenho interessante.
Uma boa semana para você.
Abraço
Leonor

sacavem (8231) 2007-01-22 17:10

Olá Aires,
O meu primeiro olhar para a foto fico preso à nitidez e luz que está no 1º plano.Excelente.
Por vezes com tanta luz ambiente é difícil fotografar, mas tu conseguiste dar a volta.
Parabéns pela composição e POV
filipe

vincz (19039) 2007-01-23 4:35

Great compsotion with the statues and their shadows. This is very well seen. Good light also resulting in great colours.

markstaples (15670) 2007-01-23 4:58

Hi Aires
The shot has fine perspective and the eye is nicely led into it thanks to the steps and the pathway. Everything is so sharp throughout. Nice one.
Best wishes
Mark

vagabondtravels (6103) 2007-01-23 7:08

Hey Aires

Nice comp and colors. Great light and shadows.
Very sharp. Good view of this beautiful garden.
Well done.
Ben

sergio1 (12150) 2007-01-23 7:50

Hi Aires

Manavillos perspectiva y muy bien captada la simetria de las estatuas con sus sombras. El agua de la fuente tambien da buen toque de color y reflejos. Una imagen muy completa.

Saludos
Sergio

paura (38278) 2007-01-23 10:36

Lindíssima fotografia, Aires. A composição ficou excelente, assim como o POV. Excelente trabalho.

Paulo

anducina (8087) 2007-01-23 14:14

Beautiful and original compo, with those statues and the orange-tree. Excellent POV and light.

TFS,

Andreea

isabela_sor (42078) 2007-01-24 3:38

Excellent alignment of statuues and good management of light.Really a beautiful place full of history!
Thank you for sharing
A nice day
Isabela

ChrisJ (70125) 2007-01-24 8:52

Ola Aires

A fantastic pov, with excellent sharpness & good use of the shadows, to add graphism. Parabens y obrigado!

Vato_Law (11664) 2007-01-24 14:58

Olá Aires,
Excelente vista com todas as estatuas e respectivas sombras alinhadas ao longo da escadaria. A laranjeira cira um colorido muito bonito na frente da imagem e contrasta bem com as cores frias da pedra.
Excelente a perspectiva ao longo da escada levando-nos os olhos até às construções ao fundo.
Fica bem.
Paulo

Bluejeans (32083) 2007-01-24 15:51

Ola amigo Aires , que belo palacio este em Castelo Branco, nâo conhecia ja estive algumas vezes ai , da proxima vez tenho de visitar.
Gostei muito das cores , as laranjeiras com as laranajas ficaram muito bonitas .
Um abraço Gonçalo

Emile (19913) 2007-01-24 16:14

Hola Aires.
Beautiful palace captured with a very good POV. Great composition, colors and sharpness. Good lighting and marvelous details. Looks like it's a very peaceful place.
Well done. TFS.

sebcz (2345) 2007-01-25 10:51

Hi Aires!
What a nice surrounding. I especially like those shadows at the feet. Oranges are nice accentuation. Deep perspective, good quality.
Regards,
Seb

bakes888 (18155) 2007-01-25 22:49

Hi Aires. These look very formal but very pleasant also. Great composition and POV and the fruit trees add a nice touch of colour. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

axiotea (16069) 2007-01-26 0:24

Hello Aires,
Beautiful view over the garden with the statues and its shadows, the orange trees with a great light. The sight over the houses in BG gives a sense of depth to your photo. Nice colors and framing too. If, one day I would go to that place I will visit it and won t miss the cheese you mentioned in your note.
Have a nice day,
Marilyn

siolaw (25726) 2007-01-26 13:07

Hi Aires
A good POV on the gardens in a superb light and excellent colors..
the lines of statues and the shadows give some graphism... TFS
Laurent

flory (4804) 2007-01-27 1:52

ola dear friend Aires,
nice your pov here to show us a combination between architecture and nature..interesting here those shadows of the statues;warm light and good quality ,like always..good note(learning from you..)
have a nice we,
flory

Henryk_Bilor (20365) 2007-01-27 10:01

Hi Aires
Great image, excellent quality and colours. Good composition with the monuments, their shadows and oranges... How sweet and tasty ;).
Regards

coco (27790) 2007-01-27 17:42

Hola Aires.

Me vas a perdonar, pero creo que hoy voy a cambiar la sonrisa.
No conozco el lugar pero no creo que ésta sea la mejor perspectiva posible.
Al menos a mi no me llama especialemnte la atención y el cielo tampoco aporta expresividad a la foto.
Quiero decir que potencialmente la foto podría dar mucho más y nos hemos quedado a medio camino.

Un saludo.

Scharan (13951) 2007-01-27 21:03

Olá Aires
Uma foto ótima, muitos detalhes e cores fabulosas.
O lugar é lindo, meus parabéns, gostei muito desta foto.
Grande abraço,
Vera.

alive (926) 2007-01-29 10:13

olá!
Mais uma bela foto de uma cidade que também adoro.
Tem uma nitidez exemplar e cores fantasticas. E é diferente. Normalmente nos postais q encontramos lá na cidade aparece apenas as escadas que estão lá ao fundo com estátuas dos reis.
luis.

p.s.: estas laranjas é que sao amargas.. eu proprio ja confirmei. :)

riclopes (32971) 2007-02-09 4:21

Esta perspectiva está simplesmente espectacular, Aires. Adoro o efeito de repetição das estátuas e ainda mais o jogo de sombras até lá ao fundo, enquanto passamos pelo espelho de água e as belas laranjeiras (até lhes sinto o cheiro). Muito boa mesmo!
Um abraço,
Ricardo

danyy (68602) 2007-02-22 8:00

Bonjour Aires,
un endroit bien entretenu, exempt de toute souillure et de graffitis, il existe apparement des endroits sur Terres sans abrutis.
J'aime le bleu du ciel, le vert des orangers et la couleur vive des fruits. Les ombres des statues font aussi tout leur effet.
Une composition parfaitement cadrée.
Amitié de Liège.
Daniel.

ruisc_pt (6206) 2007-03-03 16:42

Aproveitamento fantástico das sombras das estátuas em oposição à imagem das frontais geminadas.
Fantastique Aires.