Sintra

The second most famous castle in Lisbon deserves your time and visit for many reasons. Prepare yourself on the trip to Sintra, because the climb is hard and the panoramic view from the walls will take your breath away. The castle is a UNESCO world heritage site for its architecture and the surrounding landscape. The castle was built at the top of the Sintra hills, on extremely uneven terrain, by the Moors in the 8th or 9th century. It was conquered by King Afonso Henriques at the time the country was founded in 1147. Prepare yourself for the Romanesque chapel that has stood since the time of the Christian reconquest, and to walk the steep path that lets you discover the whole Lisbon region. Put a day aside for your own conquest of Lisbon and Portugal.

The Sintra Myths and Legends Interpretative Centre The Sintra Myths and Legends Interpretative Centre invites you on a journey into the mysticism, secrets and romanticism of the town, by means of its history, music and literature.

Through set pieces, multimedia techniques and sensory experiences, reality and fiction intersect at each of the 17 points along the route.

The project team included architects, set designers, scriptwriters, historians and specialists in audiovisual productions, holograms, sensory effects, augmented reality and 3D films.

Quinta da Regaleira is one of the most astonishing and unfathomable monuments of Sintra's Cultural Landscape, classified by UNESCO as World Heritage Site.

Set on the elegant promenade connecting Sintra's National Palace and Palácio de Seteais, the state was purchased in 1893 by philanthropist António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro for his family's summerhouse.

Between 1898 and 1913, in the hands of Italian architect and scenographer Luigi Manini, António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro converted his dominion into an ambicious Total Art project, submitted to a complex landscape and architectural program that materalized the imaginary garden concept, much in vogue since the late 17's.

It is nowadays considered the masterpiece of Neo-Manueline Art from the last period of romanticism in Sintra.

Close to both Sintra and Lisbon, the National Palace of Queluz and its historical gardens are one of the most remarkable examples of the harmonious link between landscape and palatial architecture in Portugal.

They illustrate the environment and lifestyle which the Royal Family and the Portuguese Court enjoyed in the second half of the 18th century and the early 19th century, while, at the same time, showing how tastes developed in this period marked by the baroque, rococo and neoclassicism, directing our attention to moments of great historical relevance, in the transition from the Ancien Régime to Liberalism.

Situated in the town’s historic centre, the National Palace of Sintra is an unique monument, distinguished by its outstanding historical, architectural and artistic value. Of all the palaces built by the Portuguese monarchs throughout the Middle Ages, only the palace of Sintra has survived to the present day virtually intact, still maintaining the same essential features of its shape and outline since the mid-16th century. The main building campaigns that took place after the Christian Reconquest in the 12th century were sponsored by the kings Dinis, João I and Manuel I, between the end of the 13th century and the mid-16th century. These campaigns consisted of adaptations, enlargements and general improvement works that have given the palace its present-day appearance.