The garden square at the centre of Príncipe Real, laid out in the 19th century and shaded by a single enormous Lebanon cedar whose branches have been trained outward over a circular iron frame to form a living canopy you can stand beneath. Kiosk cafés sit under the trees and old men play cards at the tables around the edge.
On Saturday mornings an organic produce market sets up here, and the square is the heart of the neighbourhood's life — surrounded by the antique dealers and design shops of Rua Dom Pedro V and a short walk from the Botanical Gardens. Beneath the garden lies a 19th-century water reservoir, the Reservatório da Patriarcal, occasionally open to visitors.