May 15, 2016, Sunday — Sintra, Portugal
We drove inland up into the mountains to the picturesque town of Sintra.
Sintra
Sintra is known for its many 19th-century Romantic architectural monuments, which has resulted in its classification as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although its heritage in buildings and nature is the most visible face of the historic individuality of Sintra, a whole literary heritage has made the area a legendary reference in Portuguese culture. It has become a major tourist center, visited by many day-trippers who travel from the capital Lisbon. In addition to the Sintra Mountains and Sintra-Cascais Nature Park, the parishes of the town of Sintra are dotted with royal retreats, estates, castles and other buildings, including the mediaeval Castelo dos Mouros, the Pena National Palace and the Sintra National Palace.
It was in Penha Verde that the earliest remnants of human occupation were discovered: these vestiges testify to an occupation dating to the early Paleolithic. Comparable remnants were discovered in an open-air site in São Pedro de Canaferrim, alongside the chapel of the Castelo dos Mouros (Moorish Castle), dating back to the Neolithic, and include decorated ceramics and microlithic flint utensils from the fifth century B.C.
Sintra is known for its many 19th-century Romantic architectural monuments, which has resulted in its classification as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although its heritage in buildings and nature is the most visible face of the historic individuality of Sintra, a whole literary heritage has made the area a legendary reference in Portuguese culture. It has become a major tourist center, visited by many day-trippers who travel from the capital Lisbon. In addition to the Sintra Mountains and Sintra-Cascais Nature Park, the parishes of the town of Sintra are dotted with royal retreats, estates, castles and other buildings, including the mediaeval Castelo dos Mouros, the Pena National Palace and the Sintra National Palace.
It was in Penha Verde that the earliest remnants of human occupation were discovered: these vestiges testify to an occupation dating to the early Paleolithic. Comparable remnants were discovered in an open-air site in São Pedro de Canaferrim, alongside the chapel of the Castelo dos Mouros (Moorish Castle), dating back to the Neolithic, and include decorated ceramics and microlithic flint utensils from the fifth century B.C.
Ceramic fragments found locally including many late Chalcolithic vases from the Sintra mountains suggest that between the fourth and third millennia B.C. the region (adjacent to the present village of Sintra) was occupied by a Neolithic/Chalcolithic settlement, with characteristics comparable to fortified settlements in Lisbon and Setúbal. The evidence discovered in Quinta das Sequoias and São Pedro de Canaferrim contrasts dramatically with those remnants discovered in the walled town of Penha Verde and the funerary monument of Bella Vista. Traces of several Bronze Age remains were also discovered in many places in the Sintra Mountains, including alongside the town, in the Monte do Sereno area, and a late Bronze Age settlement within the Moorish Castle dating to the 9th-6th century B.C. The most famous object from this period is the so-called Sintra Collar, a middle Bonze Age gold neck-ring found near the city at the end of the nineteenth century, which since 1900 has been part of the British Museum's collection. Relatively close by, in Santa Eufémia da Serra, is an Iron Age settlement where artifacts from indigenous tribes and peoples of Mediterranean origins (principally from the Punic period) were also discovered. These date from the early 4th century, prior to the Romanization of the peninsula, which in the area of Foz do Tejo took place in the middle of the 2nd century B.C. In the 18th and 19th centuries English travelers, poets, and writers, including an enthusiastic Lord Byron, were drawn by the area’s beauty.
the Summer Palace with its iconic kitchen smokestacks
the Summer Palace
the Summer Palace
We visited the King’s summer palace with its incredibly beautiful ceramics and parquetry. The Sintra Palace here has 100 steps. It is the best-preserved medieval royal residence in Portugal, being inhabited more or less continuously from at least the early 15th century to the late 19th century. It is a significant tourist attraction, and is part of the cultural landscape of Sintra, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. The history of the castle begins in the Moorish Al-Andalus era, after the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the 8th century, when Sintra had two castles. One was located atop of a hill overlooking Sintra. It is known as the Castelo dos Mouros (Castle of the Moors), and is now a romantic ruin.
The second castle was located downhill from the Castelo dos Mouros, and was the residence of the Islamic Moorish Taifa of Lisbon rulers of the region. Its first historical reference dates from the 10th century by Arab geographer Al-Bacr. In the 12th century the village was conquered by King Afonso Henriques, who took the 'Sintra Palace' castle for his use. The blend of Gothic, Manueline, Moorish, and Mudéjar styles in the present palace is, however, mainly the result of building campaigns in the 15th and early 16th centuries.
The second castle was located downhill from the Castelo dos Mouros, and was the residence of the Islamic Moorish Taifa of Lisbon rulers of the region. Its first historical reference dates from the 10th century by Arab geographer Al-Bacr. In the 12th century the village was conquered by King Afonso Henriques, who took the 'Sintra Palace' castle for his use. The blend of Gothic, Manueline, Moorish, and Mudéjar styles in the present palace is, however, mainly the result of building campaigns in the 15th and early 16th centuries.
Nothing built during Moorish rule or during the reign of the first Portuguese kings survives. The earliest surviving part of the palace is the Royal Chapel, possibly built during the reign of King Dinis I in the early 14th century. Much of the palace dates from the times of King John I, who sponsored a major building campaign starting around 1415.
Most buildings around the central courtyard - called the Ala Joanina (John's Wing) - date from this campaign, including the main building of the façade with the entrance arches and the mullioned windows in Manueline and Moorish styles (called ajimezes), and the conical chimneys of the kitchen that dominate the skyline of the city.
Most buildings around the central courtyard - called the Ala Joanina (John's Wing) - date from this campaign, including the main building of the façade with the entrance arches and the mullioned windows in Manueline and Moorish styles (called ajimezes), and the conical chimneys of the kitchen that dominate the skyline of the city.
tiling detail
The group enters the Swan Room
pigeon bathes in one of the fountains
The Swan Room (Sala dos Cisnes) or Princess Isabella room in, Manueline style, named so because of the swans painted on the ceiling. This is the largest room in the palace and has 27 swans on the ceiling because she was given two swans as a gift from the king of The Netherlands. Concerts and receptions are held in this room.
Magpie Room (Sala das Pegas); the 136 magpies (pegas) painted on the ceiling and the frieze hold the emblem por bem (for honour) in their beaks. This relates to the story that the king John I was caught in the act of kissing a lady-in-waiting by his queen Philippa of Lancaster. To put a stop to all the gossip, he had the room decorated with as many magpies as there were women at the court.
Moorish windows with Portuguese windows inside
tiling detail
ceiling of Magpie Room
fireplace with
gorgeous tiling and woodwork
cabinet against a tiled wall
parquet flooring
tiling detail
ceiling of Naval Room
ceiling of Naval Room
heavily inlaid writing desk
tapestry
Howard enters the Arab Room
the Arab Room with
tiles from the 1500s
Jim Crampton and George Yule in the Arab Room
Arthur in a corner of
the Arab Room
inlaid marble floor
Palestine Chapel
tiled font in the floor
We even got to visit the kitchens, which had a pair of fascinating funnels for letting heat and fumes escape from kitchen.
one of the curved funnel chimneys
ceiling of Naval Room
cobbled flooring detail
Arthur with a cow
The Castle of the Moors, on the hilltops of Sintra
The remnants of the chapel of São Pedro de Canaferrim, constructed by Afonso Henriques following the surrender of Moors in Sintra
The arabesque Monserrate Estate on another hilltop near the town of Sintra
The Convent of the Capuchos, the monastic retreat established during the primodial history of the municipality
The iconic Pena National Palace originally built on the Monastery of Nossa Senhora da Pena, and renovated extensively through the initiative of Ferdinand II of Portugal
The Pena National Palace: summer residence of the monarchs of Portugal during the 18th-19th century
Arthur with a cow
Driving back to Lisbon we saw the Agueduto des Aguas Livres. The city of Lisbon has always suffered from the lack of drinking water, and King John V decided to build an aqueduct to bring water from sources in the parish of Caneças, in the modern municipality of Odivelas. The project was paid for by a special sales tax on beef, olive oil, wine, and other products. The Aqueduto das Águas Livres is a historic aqueduct in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. It is one of the most remarkable examples of 18th-century Portuguese engineering. The main course of the aqueduct covers 18 km, but the whole network of canals extends through nearly 58 km.
We saw the Campo Pequeño, the bullfight ring of Lisbon
tiled building