Our third day of tourism involved catching a bus from Cascais up to the summer retreat in the hills of Sintra. Something akin to the hill stations of India. We thought that this was going to be an easy days visit but turned out to be the most exhausting and fascinating of all three days. We arrived in Sintras historic town centre to find a large white imposing building which turned out to be the Royal Palace on Republic Square. It was the residence of the Portuguese Royal Family for about 8 Centuries. The interior rooms were stunning and many of the Royal Families artefacts were in the various rooms.
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| Sintra Town Centre With Moorish Castle On Hilltop (Many Similarities With Darjeeling!) |
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| Entrance Hall |
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| Gallery |
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| Dinning Hall |
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| Entertaining Gallery |
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| National Palace Entrance |
Another stop on our circular bus route up to the top of the hill at 500m above sea level delivered us to the entrance gate of Pena Palace. We then had a hard, long climb up the hill to the Palace which is a magnificent example of Portuguese romantic style. It was originally a monastry that was obtained by Ferdinand 11 and built in 1839 incorporating the monastry. It was designed by a German and built by Don Ferdinand 11 who was a Duke of Saxo-Coburg-Gotha origin who married the Queen of Portugal. It is a weird and wondereful Disneyland style palace and is a must to visit if in Lisbon.
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| Pena Palace Entrance |
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| Ginny Under The Internal Palace Entry |
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| Ginny With View From Pena Palace |
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| Walkways Around The Turrets |
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| View Of Moorish Castle From Pena Palace |
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| Internal Courtyard |
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| Dinning Hall |
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| Detailed Marble Work In India Room |
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| Palace Exterior |
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| Palace Kitchen |
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| Detailed Ceiling Work |
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| Queens Bedroom |
After a bite to eat at the Palace, we walked down to the Moorish Castle of muslim foundation which was once attacked by the King Sigurd 1 of Norway in 1109. It was never attacked again and surrendered when Lisbon fell to the Crusaders in 1147. It is a wonderful castle and an excellent example of Moorish defences.
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| Moorish Castle Walls |
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| Moorish Castle |
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| Ginny Resting On The Ramparts |
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| View Of Pena Palace From Castle |
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| Moorish Castle |
It was a mad dash back by bus to Sintra as we still had one more visit to the Park and Palace of Monserrate. We had time for a quick and well earned beer in Sintra before our bus. Monserrate is fascinating for its British connection. It was transformed in 1856 into a summer residence for the Cook family by the British Architect James Knowles, it is a unique testimony of the 19th century eclectism. Francis Cook was a textile millionaire , 1st Viscount Of Monserrate and owner of one of the greatest private art collections in Britain. He conceived the present Romantic Palace and gardens as a family summer residence . It was breathtaking and the gardens were stunning although the recently planted rose garden by Prince Charles and Camilla required some pruning! Shattered, we returned to Cascais and enjoyed a meal out again.
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| Guy With Ice Cold Beer. |
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| Monserrate Palace |
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| Monserrate Palace Gardens |
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| Main Hallway Ceiling |
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| The Corridors |
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| Main Hallway Ceiling |
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| Music Room Ceiling |
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| Main Hall |
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| Entrance Hall |
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| Ginny Doing A Diana At Entrance |
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| The Drive Up To Monserrate |
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