What to see in Sintra, itinerary including the main monuments and places of interest in the town of Portugal, ancient summer residence of kings and nobles.
Tourist information
On a small massif of the sierra with the same name, in the district of Lisbon, stands the beautiful city of Sintra, declared in 1995 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The surrounding landscape contributes to enhancing the personality and beauty of a city that has given rise to passions and has torn more than a heated praise from poets and writers of the caliber of Camoes and Lord Byron.
On the highest point of the sierra there are the remains of the so-called Castle of the Moors, built in the 8th century, the best example of Arab military architecture present in Portugal.
What see
Another of Sintra's joys is the Palazzo da Pena, considered the masterpiece of Portuguese romanticism.
The Palace is located in an enchanting place, it was built thanks to the artistic sensitivity of Fernando II, the king who in the mid-nineteenth century asked the German architect Ludwig von Eschwege to build the building and recover an ancient geronomite monastery from the XVI century, which was located at this same point.
The complex presents an amalgam of various styles including Egyptian, Oriental, Gothic, Manueline and Renaissance which, surprisingly, coexist in harmony without compromising the final result.
Its color accentuates the feeling of being in front of an enchanted castle.
Noteworthy is the Pena Park characterized by exotic trees, various fountains and water channels.
In the heart of old Sintra is the Royal Palace, a building started in the 14th century but enlarged over the following years.
In addition to a valuable architectural structure, in oriental style, the Royal Palace houses the largest collection of Mudejar azulejos in the country.
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The Palazzo di Seteais, built in the eighteenth century and transformed into a hotel in 1954, and the Palazzo e Parco di Monserrate are also very interesting, another example of romantic architecture in a spectacular natural setting.
