A library with ten thousand volumes is an expressive library anywhere in the world. If we consider that a xiloteca is characterized by gathering and classifying samples of different woods, we must recognize that the collection of ten thousand copies of the tropical xiloteca stored in the Calheta Palace is exceptional. All the more so since many of the botanical species present here have already become extinct in nature. This surprising collection, today under the responsibility of the University of Lisbon, was brought together over a hundred years, with particular relevance to the years of scientific missions that the Estado Novo promoted in the so-called "Portuguese Africa" during the 40s, 50s and 60th century. XX. A guided tour by Fernanda Bessa, curator and responsible for this xiloteca.
