PORTUGAL – SINTRA

Dec 4-5, 2022

I had been to Sintra before, but never went to Pena Palace. I took the train to Sintra and caught a tuk-tuk that brought me the 6 km up to the palace. It really isn’t that far, but it is steep and winding. I had visions of walking back down. As it turned out, a bus ride would have cost me 3 euros and the tuk-tuk cost me 15. Oh, well….lesson learned.

The palace sits on top of a very high hill and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is still used for state occasions by the Portuguese President and other government officials. The castle started with a chapel that was built after an apparition of the Virgin Mary in the Middle Ages. In 1493, King John II and his wife were on a pilgrimage to the site when the King ordered the construction of a monastery. For centuries it was a small quiet place for meditation. After the 1755 earthquake, the monastery was destroyed. The Chapel was spared significant damage. The ruins remained untouched for nearly a century.

In 1838 King Consort Ferdinand decided to acquire all the surrounding lands, including the Castle of the Moors, and transformed the monastery into a summer Royal Residence. Ferdinand and his wife had a huge say in the architecture, decor and symbolism within the palace.

In 1889 the Portuguese state purchased the palace from the royal family. In 1910 it was classified as a national monument and transformed into a museum. The last queen of Portugal spent her last night at the palace before leaving the country in exile. It was her husband who was shot dead in Praca Do Comercio.

The tuk-tuk dropped me off near the entrance. It was a bit of a walk up the moss-covered path to the Palace itself. I had a timed ticket and was an hour early, so I had a coffee at the small kiosk nearby.

Much of the Palace is painted red, yellow and eggshell, which gives it a cheery, almost Disney, feel.

There were elaborate carvings throughout the property. The most detailed, I think, was above an archway. It showed a mythical Triton with fishtail feet grasping the branches of a tree.

Inside the Palace had elaborate arched ceilings, beautiful floor patterns, finely carved furniture, massive sitting rooms,

elaborate dining rooms for the rich and famous,

a special dining room for the not-so-famous,

a huge kitchen,

and courtyards covered in tiles and carvings.

The original chapel still remains, with its alabaster altarpiece and black limestone.

The chapel’s stained glass window was commissioned in 1840 by King Ferdinand.

The view from the outer courtyard was spectacular. I could see for miles and miles.

Leaving the Palace, I walked the short distance down to the Castle of the Moors. I had been there before, but it was on the way down the hill and not expensive to enter. This strategic fortress was built by the Moors during the 8th and 9th centuries, during the Muslim Iberia period. After Cordoba was lost to the Almoravid dynasty in 1031, the king of Badajoz opted to move to Sintra in order to gain an alliance with the Christian King, who offered no security. This castle was also lost to the invading Almoravid. The Christian army finally ousted the Muslims and gained control of the Castle in 1147. They allowed 30 inhabitants to remain, even granting them privileges, in exchange for “house-sitting”. The castle even served as the parish seat for a while, and remodelling and construction took place. In the late 1300s, the military importance was diminishing and most inhabitants abandoned the castle and headed down the hill to the village of Sintra. It was still being used as a religious center until the 1755 earthquake. From that point on the walls and towers were beyond repair. The best that could be done was to clean up the mess and turn it into a place of interest for tourists.

I walked along what walls remained, up into towers and up to the highest point, where I looked up at Pena Palace in the mist.

It is hard to describe the feeling of walking along ancient stone walls and imagining soldiers scanning the hills below for signs of danger or invasion. It was cold and a light rain fell. I had modern warm clothing. I could take a hot shower and warm up. These poor bastards had to live up here! I walked the walls out of curiosity, they walked them out of duty and security. It is also hard to fathom that this structure was over a thousand years old, and despite a massive earthquake, was still (mostly) standing. Where did they put the first stone? How did they manage to build it along a cliff and up a hill? Fantastic!

Walking back down to Sintra I went to the National Palace, again. It is a very well-preserved medieval royal residence that has been continuously inhabited since the early 15th century. It was first mentioned in the 12^th century when the Christians ousted the Muslims. The huge conical chimneys are iconic to the skyline of Sintra.

The Palace has a Moorish style and odd specialty rooms, like the Swan room – with a number of swans painted on the ceiling.

The Magpie room has 136 magpies painted on the ceiling as a way to humiliate the 136 ladies in waiting who gossiped.

The coat of arms room is the most decorated and shows off all the noble families.

There is an outdoor water room, where the nobility could escape the heat of summer.

The tilework throughout the palace was exquisite.

Outside of the palace, a Tesla was parked. The doors and windows were opening and closing in time to music. How bizarre to have the most modern piece of machinery parked in front of an ancient palace.

I headed back to Quelez. The weather was much colder than I had anticipated and my apartment did not have heating. I talked to the owner and he allowed me to leave a bag behind in one of his closets, while I hit the road for warmer (and different) adventures.