Sintra: The Park and Palace of Pena

Ben, Mikael, and I arrived in Lisbon late Thursday night. After enjoying a later dinner and a stroll around the city, we began to talk about how we wanted to spend our Friday. We decided on exploring towns and attractions just outside of Lisbon on Friday, and touring the city itself on Saturday, when Amy would arrive. Based on a combination of Wikitravel, Rick Steves, and recommendations from Ben's parents, we settled on two potential destinations: Sintra and Cascais.

We were still considering our options, when we noticed that our hostel (which was fantastic, by the way) offered a special day-trip visiting both of the places we had talked about going to, as well as some other interesting attractions. Normally, I tend to shy away from tours and prefer to explore on my own, but given Lisbon's confusing public transportation system, the tour's perfect itinerary, and the reasonable price, and I was sold. We signed up, and the next morning set off for the first stop of the day: Sintra. 

palace of pena, sintra, portugal. 

A bit about Sintra: 

The town of Sintra, located a little north of Lisbon, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (aka, amazing), and is famous for it's Romantic architecture. Although the town itself boast many exciting attractions, it's probably most well-known for the 19th century Pena Palace. The Pena Palace's story begins in the Middle Ages, when a chapel was built and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. A century or so later, a monastery was built beside the chapel, and Pena became a quiet place of prayer and meditation.

During the mid-1800s, the young Portuguese Prince Ferdinand stumbled across the chapel and monastery. By this point, time and earthquakes had reduced them both to ruins, but Prince Ferdinand acquired the buildings and surrounding grounds anyway, transforming them into a grand palace to serve as the summer residence for the royal family.

In re-building Pena, Prince (and later, King) Ferdinand both commissioned multiple architects and relied on his personal sense of design and style. The result is an eclectic combination of styles: Medieval arches, German-style castles, and multiple Islamic minarets, all painted in brilliant yellows, corals, and blues. It was really unlike any castle I had seen before, and I absolutely loved it.

lovely grounds leading up to the palace.

alto de santo antonio, a chapel devoted to st. antonio

palace de pena in the distance! I loved the vibrant colors. 

palace + me + ben

delicate purple flower in the palace grounds- I just can't resist foral close-ups!

the palace. such a unique style and architecture!

the (restored) clock tower to the old monastery

the cloister, featuring hispano-arabic tiles. One of my favorite aspects of
the palace (and portugal in general!) were the stunning tiles. 

the palace. I could definitely live here. 

the view was pretty spectacular, too. 

moorish minaret. 

archway. 

just outside of the palace-- meandering about the town
of sintra. 

in the town of sintra. I'm not sure what this building is, but we ate lunch
(delish portuguese pastries) on its steps.