History

Mata - Jardim José do Canto was plantedin in the middle of the 19th century, in uncultivated land, resulting from the Lagoa Seca volcano (1630).

In 1861, José do Canto commissioned the project from Landscape Architect Barrillet-Deschamps and, according to Isabel Albergaria in her book "Quintas, Jardins e Parques da Ilha de S. Miguel":

«Deschamps (1824-1875) was, at that time, a well-known figure in the Parisian landscape, working under the direction of Alphand in Haussmann's general urbanization plan, as the main responsible for planting the parks and gardens of Paris. In that capacity he was co-author of the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes, the Monceau and Buttes Chaumont parks and the gardens of the Champs-Elysées. His action as a landscaper was extremely important, having created a well-defined type of layout and planting scheme, characterized by wide curving paths forming small valleys at the bottom of wooded slopes, where groups of trees and ornamental shrubs grew in associations of "canteiros pitorescos". Group of notable trees such as a monumental Azinheira (Quercus rotundifóli), arboreal tulip trees and a Sequoia (sequoia sempervirens) from the time of José do Canto, possibly the largest in the entire national territory, classified as Public Interest by the Forestry Services in October 1970.»

«The design he drew for José do Canto determines as the central point of the composition, the land destined for the implantation of the" fishing pavilion "(today Casa do Lago, to be opened for rural tourism) from the which opens up axes of vision represented by radiant lines in all directions.»

The project was eventually completed by George Aumont and Mata Jardim today belongs to Margarida Jácome Correa Hintze Ribeiro, great-grandson of the founding couple, José do Canto and his wife, the morgue Maria Guilhermina Taveira de Brum da Silveira, who is buried in the hermitage of Nossa Senhora das Vitórias.