Visiting Sintra - what to do/visit?
Sintra is internationally known
for its deeply romantic environment, by its palaces that seem to have come out
from a Walt Disney fairy tale but that actually they tell very real stories and
they also are carriers of our past until present days.
Please check: Romanticism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism
Every time I go to Sintra I have
the fantasy of imagining elegant 19TH-century gentlemen strolling through the
streets of Sintra with their mistresses carrying small umbrellas that one can
never know if they were meant to protect their holders from the Sun or from
some indiscreet looks. At the evening the secret couple receives at their love
nest the gentleman's best friend and his adorable lover.
I believe that this lover’s net
is part of the Portuguese who soon learned to enjoy the work of Eça de Queirós,
a Portuguese writer of 19th century
that wrote a famous novel called “Os Maias”, among many others, and we had to
learn about it during high school. Also Sintra’s warm summer together
with the haze that often hangs on these surroundings are elements that
helps to create this mystical and romantic environment.
Walking in Sintra is
effectively immersing yourself into the romantic atmosphere of the 19th century.
This century was so important to Sintra that I cannot imagine how this place
would be like without the events that happened during that century, to better explain
myself I list some important events occurred during that period of time:
- 1808: signing of the
Convention of Sintra which put terms to the first French invasion
- 1808: Lord Byron stayed in
Sintra
- 1838: Ferdinand II acquired
the convent of Nossa Senhora da Pena (actual Pena Palace) and the Moorish Castle
- 1858: Major rebuilding works
on Monserrate
- 1887: Lisbon-Sintra train
line was inaugurated
-
1892: barons of Regaleira sold Quinta (farm) to António Augusto de Carvalho
Monteiro
In this very synthetic list we
can see important references to buildings/monuments considered today as great
monuments of Sintra and events that are closely linked with the romantic image
we have today of this village, as an example please notice the time spent in
Sintra by Lord Byron the author of a famous version of Don Juan and many other
works that promoted Sintra as a romantic village.
In 1992 the cultural landscape
of Sintra was classified as a world heritage site by UNESCO and this was also
another crucial step to Sintra’s promotion. Nowadays Sintra is a “must see”
place when considering a travel to Portugal.
Sintra is not far from Lisbon.
Is less than one hour by train from Lisbon, taking the train at Rossio train
station, right in the Centre of the city. The train is a very simple, fast and
economic way to reach this village as opposed to driving that can turn to be
annoying because sometimes is difficult to park or even to arrive to the
historical center of Sintra.
When in Sintra, please go to
the Tourist Office, the employees are incredibly friendly and very professional.
They will show you many options for your
day.
The great difficulty will be:
what to select considering to have only half day or one day?
Well, being this a blog of
walking is also a blog of cultural options as well. Anyway, is probably
expected to find here some information’s about walks in Sintra. I am sorry, but
the walks in Sintra does not fascinate me as much as the monuments that are a
must see of beauty and diversity.
I know that most of Portuguese
people you will talk they will refer the walks in Sintra but, believe me,
Sintra’s monuments you won’t find them nowhere else.
There are so many to see and
not having all the time in the world, what to select?
I do not know what to answer
because it depends on what each one loves to see but I will try to summarize
the most important things of each place for those who have between half a day
to one day to spend here.
The focus will be on the
following monuments/places: Pena National Palace, Sintra National Palace,
Moorish Castle, Quinta da Regaleira and the village Sintra itself.
Please forgive me for leaving
out other spectacular monuments but a selection had to be done.
The time it takes to visit a
monument will depend on the interest for detail, the background history and
many other elements. One photographer can take easily half an hour in a place where
a relaxed walker will stay only for a few seconds.
However, there is a general idea
of the time it can take visiting each site and is what I will refer during this
post.
I am not going to detail what
we can see in the monuments because you can find plenty of good information in
the internet. I will give you a general idea of you can expect visiting each
place and the time it will take to visit so you can better organize your time.
Pena National Palace
We can divide the space in two:
the Palace and the Park.
The Palace takes between an
hour and a half to two hours to visit and another hour to the Park.
The Palace, despite its
existence while chapel that contradictory sources point to the end of the 14TH
century and others for the 16th century, is in the 19th century that begins the
construction of the spectacular monument we see today.
The interior is like a fairy
tale, full of color, full of nooks and a fabulous example of a moment built in
a certain time in History when wealthy families begun to receive guests at
their home and give more value to socialization. Also major changes were
happening in the intimate dynamics of the family life – the architecture of the
palace was quite innovative at the time in what family dynamics was concerned.
D. Fernando II bought a former
convent and built the Palace from the convents structure. He was the regent
king, married with queen D. Maria II. We was born in Vienna, Austria.
The Palace is the vision of a
foreigner perfectly fitted to this country with both modern and classic
concepts brought from Northern Europe.
The Park is quite nice for a relaxed
walk. You will see some lakes, high points that serve as a lookout and a
collection of very interesting trees and plants.
Walking in the Park, there is a
point not to be missed is the Giant, a statue from where you have a fabulous
view of the Pena Palace and the surrounding area.
Sintra National Palace
Is one of the ex-libris of
Sintra appearing in many photo brochures, is very easy to recognize by its two
huge chimneys. It is located in the center of most tourist part of the village
and therefore, maybe because of that, is also known as “Palácio da Vila”
(Village’s Palace).
In addition to being a spectacular
place and all its merits, you may want to choose it for more practical reasons:
it’s right in the Centre of the village, it is very accessible.
The visit takes about an hour
and a half and what I find most amazing in this monument is that during the
visit we feel we are in a space that brought to the present days bit of every
moment of its existence and, considering that its exists since the 14TH
century, with major renovations in the 15th century, we have the sensation of walking
through history.
Also important is the fact that
it was a Royal Palace, it has sumptuous spaces and full of meaning, as the room
of the coat of arms.
Despite the immense beauty of
many of its rooms, the kitchen is a fantastic place and maybe one of the
funniest sites because we can see inside these chimneys that mark the landscape
of the village.
At the top of this post you can see an outside photo of this palace.
Moorish Castle
As the name implies, is a
castle built during the Moorish occupation period. However, although with not
very strong evidences, some people believe that before the Moorish period this
place would have initially been holding some Visigoth’s constructions.
With a military objective, is
located in the highest area of the outskirts of the town and, as such, we can
have a great view from the top of the Castle, providing excellent photos being
the Pena Palace, perhaps, one of the most photographed spot from here.
Is a medieval castle and so a
Spartan environment and their wall and towers are what is there to see.
A visit to the Castle takes
about one hour and a half.
Quinta da Regaleira
I must say that I love Quinta
da Regaleira for a good number of reasons. In addition to being an
extraordinary monument represents also a dream made reality, a dream of someone
who was neither King nor Aristocrat, was a merchant, a living proof that personal
fortune can be used to make long-lasting works.
With a ten-minute walk from the
historic centre of Sintra you will arrive to this place and the visit takes
between two to three hours.
At the end of the 19TH century
Quinta da Regaleira was bought by Carvalho Monteiro from the barons of
Regaleira and after that he built this magnificent palace with the technical
support of the Italian stage designer/architect Luigi Manini.
For the monuments visits I
strongly advise that the visitors are accompanied by a guide or some
information that will guide them. This visit is undoubtedly one monument where
guidance will make a huge difference, without it you will not enjoy the charm
of a story that seems to have come out from a fairy tale.
Within the Quinta da Regaleira
there are many points of interest such as the Regaleira Tower, the Palace, the
chapel of the Holy Trinity, the Initiatic Well and the wood.
Is, without doubt, one of my
favorite places.
Sintra
This village presents itself as
an exponent of romanticism while urban cluster and is, by itself, an excellent
reason to visit.
Reserve about two hours to walk
in the village. For your guidance and better time management, at the tourist
office you can collect some urban walks leaflet.
Whatever the route you will
take, there are some points you should not miss, they are:
- Taste
the traditional small cakes: "Queijadas de Sintra” (Sintra’s cheesecakes)
and the "Travesseiros” (Pillows) - traditionally are sold at the Periquita
coffee shop;
- Other
traditional cakes but less known: "Fofos de Belas", "Agualvas”
and " Nozes Douradas"
If you are going to have lunch
or dinner then look for some restaurant where you can ask the local dishes:
“Leitão de Negrais”, Roasted Lamb, Southampton of pork “Mercês” style,
Sintra's Veal or one of the many grilled fish.
Please be aware that the
purpose of this post is not to do an exhaustive description of the monuments or
places but help you, giving information to help you decide about what to see/do
during a visit to Sintra.
About every monument you will
find a lot of literature on the internet.
Enjoy your day.
David Monteiro
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