Castles of Portugal: Pena National Palace July 11th, 2014
“Perhaps this is the most amazing thing I have seen in Europe”
(J. Byron, "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage")
Pena Palace is one of the most "romantic" castles on the planet and one of the main attractions of Portugal. A complex of buildings and a green landscape covering several hundred hectares appeared here in the 19th century during the reign of King Ferdinand II, who wished to have a summer residence near Lisbon on a high hill.
Let's take a closer look at this castle...
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One of the legends hovering around the palace says that the place for the construction of the future palace was indicated by the Virgin Mary herself, who appeared in a vision. During the reign of King Manuel I, who had a special love for this secluded place, the construction of the monastery began. For several centuries, the Pena monastery was a secluded and quiet place, only 15 monks lived here.
In the 18th century, the monastery buildings were damaged by a lightning strike. And in 1755 it was almost completely destroyed by a strong earthquake. Of the complex of buildings, only the very first chapel remained; all other structures lay in ruins. So, dilapidated, he stood for several more decades.
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The second life of this place began in 1838, when the prince consort, the husband of Queen Mary II, was going to buy the monastery, as well as the neighboring castle with adjacent territories. On the site of the monastery ruins, Prince Ferdinand of Saxony of Coburg, with the romanticism and fantasy characteristic of all Germans, decided to build a summer residence for members of the royal family. And the result was not just a palace, but a real fairy tale.
By the way, the old chapel was preserved and partially integrated into new buildings, erecting an impressive clock tower and a wide terrace, which offers the most spectacular panorama for viewing the palace. Under the first mistress of the castle, Queen Mary II, a special mechanism was installed at this place, and every day at noon several cannons fired a single salvo.
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As a designer, Ferdinand II invited the German engineer and geologist Baron William von Eschwege, who became the author of the famous Pena palace complex. The romantic period of art of that time could not but affect the aesthetic features of the buildings: neo-Gothic, Neo-Renaissance, Moorish style, motifs were mixed in the appearance of the castle. islamic architecture. Pena National Palace as a whole is one of the brightest and most characteristic examples of eclecticism of that time.
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The interiors of the palace, which are also accessible to tourists, were planned according to all the needs of the royal family and were made for the most part in Victorian and Edwardian styles. decorative trim includes murals, frescoes, and mosaics of amazing beauty. At the end of the 20th century, the facades of the castle were restored and again covered with red and yellow paint of those shades that were originally selected for the design of the castle. Since 1995, the castle has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
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Pena Palace in the early 1890s inspired Russian millionaire Arseny Abramovich Morozov and architect Viktor Aleksandrovich Mazyrin to build a mansion on Vozdvizhenka in Moscow, known in Soviet times as the House of Friendship with Peoples foreign countries, and now the Reception House of the Government of the Russian Federation
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Sintra (Sintra) is an ancient Portuguese city, located 23 km northwest of Lisbon, whose history goes deep into the past. Here, many exotic parks, centuries-old forests, castles, palaces, monasteries are amazing. Sintra is beautiful city with fabulous scenery and romantic landscapes that do not leave you indifferent.
Sintra has everything for relaxation: golden sand beaches, pure water The Atlantic, and the majestic coast, rich opportunities for surfing and fishing.
Cape Roca is located 18 kilometers from the city of Sintra - the most western point Eurasian continent.
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How to get to Sintra
- By train: Sintra station can be reached by using the services of CP Portuguese Railways, whose trains depart from several stations in Lisbon every 15 minutes: Santa Apolonia, Oriente, Campolide and Rossio. The distance from the station to the city of Sintra is 10 minutes on foot. A return train ticket costs approximately 3.5 euros. Before boarding the train, you must present the ticket at the checkpoint and keep it until the end of the trip, as it can be "recharged" and used for trips around Lisbon. You can also get from the station to the center by bus, the stop of which is located directly opposite.
- By Tram: The historic 14 km tram route starts from Praia das Maçãs, Europe's westernmost resort, and ends approximately 1 km from the center of Sintra at Ribeira de Sintra, which is located near the Royal Palace. The line is operated by restored trams dating from the early 20th century (Fri-Sat 9:30-19:30) by Sintra Tram, tel. +351 219238500. Trams run every hour, travel time is 45 minutes.
- By bus: Scotturb (tel.: 214 699 100; ; Avenida Dr Miguel Bombarda) or Mafrense (tel.: 219 230 971) buses run regularly from Lisbon to Sintra. The Scotturb office is located opposite the station and is open from 09:00 to 13:00 and from 14:00 to 20:00.
- by taxi: by taxi you can get to any place of interest, of course, for a rather high fee. The taxi fare from Lisbon to Sintra is around 20 euros.
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Despite the fact that Sintra is actually a suburb of Lisbon, this city has a completely different climate. Unlike the capital, Sintra is great for a serene summer holidays in comfortable conditions. The proximity of the ocean and the protection of the mountain ranges provide slightly cool, slightly windy and quite humid weather even in the height of the hot summer.
Unlike the capital, Sintra is perfect for a serene summer holiday in comfortable conditions.
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Good day!
Today I would like to talk about Pena Palace, which is visited by almost all tourists vacationing in Sintra and the Lisbon region. A very popular attraction. And when we were preparing for the trip, we included it in the mandatory program. Website
Pena Palace(Palácio Nacional da Pena) - a palace in Portugal, located on a high cliff above Sintra and has a fantastic pseudo-medieval style. The entire composition of the mountain, the castle and the adjacent 270-hectare park is one of the earliest examples of 19th-century romantic landscape architecture. The castle and park originated in 1840 as a royal summer residence on the site of a small abandoned Manueline cloister. Construction was organized by Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, husband of Queen Mary II of Portugal. He invested heavily in this project, and work continued until his death in 1885. The interiors and decorations have been preserved in the form in which they were left by the last owner, Queen Amelia, who was forced to flee Portugal in 1910.
So, we lived in Sintra itself and traveled by car for about half an hour (we got a little lost due to road repairs). The roads are very narrow. There are also special tourist routes, where a bus for 5 euros will take you to several attractions, including Pena Castle.
The castle is located on the second highest point of the Sintra ridge (Serra da Sintra) (at an altitude of about 480 m), there are three parking lots on different heights. It’s hard to climb, so it makes sense to leave the car (if you are driving yourself) right at the ticket office at the top, if you take the bus, you don’t have to choose. However, they write that there are very few parking spaces during the season.
So, you have reached and are waiting for your turn at the cashier.
And there are two types of tickets for two categories of citizens:
Looking ahead, I’ll say that in my opinion there is no point in buying a “park + palace” ticket, we were not too interested. What's inside - I will tell below.
From the box office to the palace itself there is a bus for 3 euros or you can walk up for 10-15 minutes.
It was quite cool in the park (at a height), we did not walk for a long time. The park is more like a forest, in which paths are laid out, where with a stone, where there are just paths.
From the park and from the palace on another hill, the Castle of the Moors is visible, for those who are interested - the excursion to it starts lower (earlier) than the ticket office to Pena, but along the same road. It costs about 8 euros.
When visiting the Pena Palace, pay attention to the weather, if it is foggy, then the views will not be the same. We're pretty lucky: thick fog and the rain caught us already on the way to the car.
The palace itself stands out for its architecture, many viewing platforms, paths along the walls, beautiful views. The castle combines several styles, and is simply unforgettable with its colors! Nearby is the Castle of the Moors - it seems to be within easy reach. You can just walk around the Palace back and forth for a long time, but do not forget about tourists. And we were in the morning at 9.30 and out of season! It's hard to even imagine what the season is like.
Get ready for the fact that there will be not just a lot, but a lot of tourists. See photo below.
For tourists with a full ticket "park + palace" there is an entrance to the palace (we even almost missed it out of ignorance), where they scan the ticket and a man in livery lets him into the castle. Inside the palace is royal decoration, but nothing more. The only unusual thing was to see the surprisingly small beds - the Portuguese used to be very short!
They drive around the palace almost in single file (there are a lot of people, a flea market), everything is fenced around, there are caretakers. It’s not very convenient to walk one after another along a path less than a meter wide, and it’s unlikely to stop and see something, since there are also tourists behind. In general, they were not happy.
6. Sintra: Pena Palace June 14th, 2011
4. Well, this is quite the "Prince of Persia".
5. I confess, I slightly tinted the palace. In fact, it is somewhat more shabby and gray. It is interesting that they decorated it quite recently. Prior to that, he was completely shabby. Moreover, the Portuguese scolded the restorers very much. Everyone is used to it gray walls and thought that this was how it should be.
6. Fernando II clearly cared about future generations of tourists with shit mirrors. Places for perfect photos are stuck everywhere.
7. In fact, there was such beauty around that I almost scored on camera. With difficulty, I scraped together photos for the report.
8. It seems that the Atlantic is within easy reach. But it's actually 20 kilometers away.
9. The main dominant of the palace is this pot-bellied caustic yellow tower.
10. I don’t even know which is cooler, the palace itself or the views from its walls. The Castle of the Moors is clearly visible on the neighboring mountain. There will be a separate post about it.
11. The fortress is slightly larger.
12. The Court of Arches again, but now I have my back to the Clock Tower.
13. The courtyard got its name because of such a "pseudomudejar" solution on the walls.
14. And this is Manueline. The "rosette" was painted by the king himself. The walls are decorated with traditional Portuguese azulejos (painted clay tiles).
15. This photo is in all the reports about the Pena Palace. I made my own version.
16. Another general angle.
17. View from the gateway to the Court of Arches.
18. In good weather, you can see for tens of kilometers around. A little to the right of Lisbon. For some reason I didn't capture it.
19. Kitchen pipes.
20. And here are the Templars!
21. Life is still glimmering in a dry tree.
22. Triton. As conceived by the architect, it should be an allegory for the creation of the world from four elements. Well, I don't know - I don't know.
23. Be sure to go inside the palace. The interiors there may not be as chic as in traditional royal palaces, but no less interesting. It seemed to me and Olka that everything was done with taste. A lot of all kinds of devices and devices of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Unfortunately, you can't shoot inside, so here's another Triton.
My stories about Portugal:
A trip to the May holidays of 2011.
In my opinion, Portuguese city of Sintra- an amazingly beautiful place, and its most striking and memorable attraction is considered Pena Palace.
Getting to Sintra is as easy as shelling pears: electric trains run from Lisbon's Rossi station approximately every twenty minutes. We bought a combined ticket, which is valid for both trains and Sintra buses - it turned out much cheaper. And already from the Sintra railway station we drove to the palace along an incredibly steep serpentine for about twenty minutes. I wouldn't dare to take such a steep road even on passenger car to go, and we were sitting in a big bus, which could not immediately overcome some turns.
It takes about 10 minutes to walk from the stop to the Pena Palace, located on a tall cliff, through a shady park, but there is an option to take a train, paying 2 euros. And here we are at the foot of this fairy tale.
Pena Palace in Sintra began to be built in 1840 as a summer royal residence, and before that, in its place was a small abandoned monastery in the Manueline style. The construction of the palace was initiated by Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, husband of the Portuguese Queen Mary II. Ferdinand invested heavily in this project, which continued until his death in 1885.
This is one of the most incredible palaces that I have ever seen: wonderful mix of different eras and styles, which at the same time looks very beautiful and interesting. Neo-Renaissance, Neo-Gothic, and Islamic motifs can be found in the appearance of the Pena Palace. This is the case when the palace can be viewed for hours, making thousands of different shots.
On the one hand, all the elements of the palace look more or less connected, and on the other hand, all this is a mixture of styles plus bright colours completely blow your mind.
From this terrace, when there is no haze, you can see Lisbon. A little lower meanders the wall of the castle of the Moors.
And this is a view of the hills, beyond which the Atlantic Ocean is visible in the distance.
Such a cute patio.
From the terrace you have the view that you are in one of the Disney cartoons.
Inside the Pena Palace is no less interesting than the outside. Here, for example, is a room with painted columns that look super-realistic.
Cool furniture!
By the way, interior spaces of the Pena Palace have been preserved in the form in which they were under its last owner - Queen Amelia forced to flee Portugal in 1910. It is also interesting that in the 1890s the palace in Sintra inspired by Arseny Morozov(Russian millionaire) for the construction of a Moscow mansion on Vozdvizhenka, which in Soviet times was the House of Friendship of Peoples, and is currently the Reception House of the Government of the Russian Federation.
Luxurious restrooms, a luxurious chandelier and a royal bedroom. There is even a shower cabin.
Walking around the Pena Palace is very pleasant and unusual. What is only one kitchen with copper utensils worth.
On the territory of the palace there is a beautiful park located on the slopes. Dilapidated pavilions, dense bushes and ivy-covered trees were deliberately created to feel a bit neglected. Incredible atmosphere all around!
Benches covered with moss deserve special attention. Swans live here, there is even a house for them.
At the far end of this park there are peaks from which the entire Pena Palace is perfectly visible.
At first we were afraid to get lost in the park, but there good map with which you will definitely not get lost. In general, both the park and the palace itself deserve to spend several hours here. We were just delighted with everything we saw!
Do you want to be in a fairy tale? Then arm yourself with comfortable shoes and get ready to see the palace, which seems to have come down from the pages of a children's book. Pena Palace is located on one of the high hills of Sintra. In clear weather, the outlines of this quaint palace can be seen from Lisbon.
The history of Pena Palace or how it all began
The history of many monuments and buildings in Portugal can begin with the words, once there was a completely unremarkable chapel here. There really was a chapel, it was erected due to the fact that someone here dreamed of the Mother of God. Named a place Nossa Senhora da Pena.
In the 16th century, King Manuel I ordered to rebuild the chapel into the monastery of Our Lady of Pena, in honor of the birth of the heir, who had high hopes for the unification of the three kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula - Portugal, Castile and Aragon. However, the global plans failed to materialize, the young prince died at the age of 6 years.
Partly built of wood, partly of stone, the monastery was the home of several monks. In the 18th century, lightning strikes the building. The fire destroys the wooden parts of the building. A few years later, an earthquake completely destroys the monastery.
Only the chapel and the alabaster-marble altar of the hand of Nocol Chantarin survived. Later, these picturesque ruins became part of the palace, the construction of which began in 1840.
Who started this architectural pun?
Sintra was the summer residence of the kings long before the 19th century. It all started with the fact that in 1147 Don Afonso Henriques, inspired by his victory over the Moors in Lisbon, decided to expel them from these lands.
The Moors surrendered without a fight. They hid their treasures somewhere in the depths of Mount Sintra, in the hope that they would return. But they never returned, and no one found the treasure. Since then, Sintra has become a favorite haunt of the Portuguese nobility. Luxury Village Sintra, if you will.
The German Roots of Pena Palace
In 1836, Fernando, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, married Mary II, widowed at 16. The drama is that the first husband of Mary II, Prince Augustus, was the cousin of Fernando. Just like in the cartoon about Carlson, who lives on the roof:
- Mom, listen!
- BUT?
- Here my brother will grow up - well, he will marry, well, he will die. And then what, will I have to marry his old wife?
- Why? Well, anyway? BUT?
- Well, I wear out his old these ... pajamas, skates, a bicycle, I wear everything else ...
“I promise you that I will deliver you from his old wife.
- This is good. But actually I would much more like to have a dog than a wife.
In 1837, after the birth of his first child, he inherits the title of his wife and becomes King Fernando II of Portugal. Due to this origin, the king consort preferred to stay away from the political arena and devoted himself to art. That is why the Portuguese called him "King-Artist".
The newly minted romantic king did not like the National Palace of Sintra. He was attracted by the ruins of the monastery. Without thinking twice, he buys the monastery lands, the fortress of the Moors and several more plots on the mountain.
The construction of the summer royal residence was entrusted to the German mining engineer and architect Ludwig von Eschwege. Perhaps he drew inspiration from seeing the sketches and the castle under construction of the Bavarian king Ludwig II, a relative of Fernando II. Remember Sleeping Beauty Castle?
Fernando II made a huge amount of changes to the original draft. This tandem gave us a cocktail of architectural styles and artistic contrasts: oriental domes and minarets, Gothic turrets, Manueline and Renaissance elements.
The bright colors of the walls of the palace, which we see today, did not even dream of Fernando. On old postcards, the building looks like 50 shades of grey.
Candy colors have appeared quite recently. And in 2015, Palacio Pena took first place in the list of 15 stunning castles in Europe according to the EBD portal.
Should I visit Pena Palace and Garden?
An unequivocal and affirmative YES! But it is absolutely not necessary to visit the halls of the palace.
The interiors there are quite boring, and a bit disappointing after such a flamboyant façade. But, this is a matter of taste and you decide. Although, over the past few years, some rooms have been renovated. We hope that in the future the palace will appear before tourists in all its former splendor.
Better spend time walking in the fresh eucalyptus air of Sintra, on the terraces and turrets of the palace. Take a closer look at the monster hanging over the archway, which meets all visitors at the entrance to the courtyard.
This mythical sculpture symbolizes the allegory of the creation of the world from four elements: fire, water, sky and earth. Half fish, half man, whose hair gradually turns into a vine.
There is something demonic in his gaze. I don’t know what about the allegory of the creation of the world, but it fills the visitors with horror.
The views from the terraces are incredible, here you can see the Moorish castle, and Sintra at a glance, and in clear weather you can see Lisbon.
You can relax from the architectural riot in a huge park covering an area of 240 hectares.
When fog envelops the mountain, the palace park turns into an enchanted forest. The exotic taste of the romantic king can be traced here as well.
The park contains plants from different parts of our planet: North American magnolias, Chinese ginkgo, Japanese camellias and various ferns. Paths and barely noticeable paths are combined into a labyrinth that, like a web, permeates the entire park.
One of these paths leads straight to the statue of the bronze knight, which can be seen from the terrace of the palace. Who served as the model for the statue is unknown, although his face is a bit like our Artist King.
Not every tourist gets to the highest point of Sintra. Usually, many people prefer to go down the park. And those who dare to rise will be rewarded great view to the palace and proud that they climbed to the highest point of the ridge - 528 meters above sea level. It is easy to recognize this place, there is a cross on it. It is marked on the map, which can be taken by any visitor.
The park beckons just to walk and enjoy the views of ponds and swans gliding over them.
Why didn't the king see the palace?
Oh yes, a little more about our king, to whom we owe this example of the architecture of Portuguese romanticism.
In 1853, after the death of the queen, he loses his royal title. He did not grieve for a long time about the loss of Fernando II, from evil tongues he takes refuge in his still unfinished summer residence, along with his mistress, the Swiss opera singer and actress, Countess Edla.
After 16 years in 1869, they legitimize their relationship. A pretty nice chalet is being built nearby. But that's a completely different story.
The dream of building an extravagant palace came true in 1885, a year after the death of Fernando II. He never saw his offspring in all its glory. After his death, all property, including the Pena Palace, went to the countess. This angered the public and forced the widow to sell the palace to the state.
Refuge of the last queen
From the terrace of the palace, the last queen of Portugal, Donna Amelia, watched the riots in Lisbon. There were still military units loyal to the Crown, but the ships that had gone over to the side of the Republicans had already taken up positions opposite the Palace Square. The Republican Revolution of 1910 began.
The battles in the city were carried out with the use of artillery, and in clear weather everything was visible. What was dona Amelia thinking when she saw the cruiser Sao Rafael shoots at the buildings of ministries, one can only guess. It was in Pena Palace that the dowager queen spent her last night, after which she left Portugal forever with her son Manuel II.
After the declaration of the Republic, the palace became a museum. Today, the Pena Palace is one of the most visited attractions in Sintra, and is included in the list of the Seven Wonders of Portugal.
By the way, on the terrace of the castle there is a cafe and a restaurant where you can eat or drink flavored coffee before walking through the magical park.
