Mata do Bussaco forest was already large when the Discalced Carmelites settled there to live, pray and engage in spiritual retreats. They proceeded to transform it into a reproduction of Mount Carmel.

Fuelled by religious fervour, in 1644 they created the via crucis consisting of twenty chapels positioned over three kilometres of land. In their desire to make it look even more like Jerusalem, they planted several cedars, or cypresses (Cupressus lusitanica), that had been brought to the area from the mountains of Mexico by Portuguese sailors.

In 1730, they added more hermitages and chapels to the dense vegetation on the hill and would retreat to them in search of complete isolation. Some, such as Santa Teresa, São José and São Miguel, were for penitence, while others, such as São João da Cruz, São Pedro and Madalena, were chapels dedicated to worship.

Following expulsion of the monks in 1834, Mata do Bussaco was no longer a place of religious devotion and, when the palace was built, the gardens became objects of luxury and pleasure. The spiritual vocation of the gardens became impregnated with the romantic spirit of the time and, consequently, new fountains, gardens, waterfalls and lakes were added, creating a unique and dramatic landscape.