Main entrance of the Nursery Garden of Virtudes with the royal coat of arms

Among the numerous visitors and clients of the Virtudes Nursery Garden was the Portuguese royal family who, when staying in the city of Porto, always paid their visit to the establishment. Such was their appreciation that, in 1865, Queen Maria Pia (1847-1911) honoured its director, José Marques Loureiro, with the title of Provider of the House of Her Majesty. In 1890, the Nursery Garden was renamed «Royal Horticultural-Agricultural Company of Porto». In the same year, Jerónimo Monteiro da Costa joined as a partner and assumed the direction of the business, after the health of Marques Loureiro took a turn for the worst.