Sintra

Sintra is a town in the Lisbon Region of Portugal. Its spectacular setting, 28km from Lisbon , houses a Royal Palace, used by generations of Portuguese royalty prior to the 1910 revolution. The surrounding hills are surmounted by the remains of the Moorish Castle and by the nineteenth-century Pena Palace. Historic Sintra is an heritage patrimony site declared by UNESCO.

Near Estoril, the majestic Sintra Mountains cast a veil of mystery over the town nestling on its northern slopes. The hills and the surrounding area have been classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage site both for their cultural significance and for their outstanding natural beauty.

See

Admission prices and opening times of the sites can be found on the Parques de Sintra website

• Quinta da Regaleira (Regaleira Palace and Gardens), Rua Barbosa du Bocage, 2710-567 Sintra,  ☎ +351 219 106650. Mo-Su, from 10h00 to 18h30 (last entrance at 18h00). Regaleira Palace, situated at the historic centre of Sintra, is also part of the built heritage included in UNESCO's world heritage list as "Sintra cultural landscape".The origins of this place date back to 1697, when the property was bought by José Leite, but it was only by the late 19th century that the history of the Palace and Gardens begins. In 1892 Carvalho Monteiro, an eccentric capitalist that had made a huge fortune in Brazil, bought the property and hired the Italian architect Luigi Manini to conceive a place that gathered, on the one hand, a sum of artistic currents (Gothic, Manueline and Renaissance) and, on the other hand, the glorification of national history influenced by mythic and esoteric traditions. A great variety of Masonic symbols is present in Regaleira Palace and Gardens. An important example is the magnificent "Poço Iniciático" (Initiation Well), looking like an upside down tower, where at every 15 steps a plateau is reached, in a total of nine leading to the depths of the earth. The nine plateaus remind the nine circles of Hell, the nine sections of Purgatory and the nine heavens of Paradise, as designated by Dante. Everyone seems to get lost looking for the Initiation Well - hang onto the map you get when purchasing your ticket! Prices with guide: 10 € (standard); 8 € (over 65 yr); 5 € (9-14 yr); Free (under 9 yr). Prices without guide: 6 € (standard); 4 € (over 65 yr); 2,5 € (9-14 yr); Free (under 9 yr).
• Pena National Palace (Palácio Nacional da Pena). Beautiful example of pseudo-Moorish Romantic architecture. The facades were completely restored in January 2015, so it is well-worth a visit. You can climb there by foot or using a small train departing from the ticket office. You can see a good collection of furniture and the royal apartments.
• Moorish Castle (Castelo dos Mouros). One of the highlights of Sintra not to be missed. Ruins of a castle built by the Moors from the 9th century onwards. Apparently, when Cascais was under the rule of Sintra, a huge fire would be lit here annually to remind the people of Cascais that the Moorish Castle is there to protect them.
• ⊙Monserrate Palace
• ⊙The Royal Palace
• ⊙Convento dos Capuchos: A secluded abbey where monks used to live in close contact with nature. Immersed in a wood, its crude and harsh style points out the importance of spirituality according to these friars and their strict Christian values. It has no electric light, so use your flash on to shoot great pictures! Don't miss the wood carved chapel, the library and the friars' cells. The ticket is valid to visit the Pena Palace and one other building — your choice of the Moorish Castle or the Convento.