My Escapes Portugal Another Lovely Trip to Portugal! Sintra Day Trip to Sintra The Pena National Palace

The Pena National Palace

If I had to pick the most beautiful building in the proximity of Lisbon, it would be the Pena Palace in Sintra. And finally, I was able to visit it!
It was a fascinating sight and the interiors were overwhelming as well.
Having seen the building depicted on brochures, posters, ads, it was one of those places I was "going to see" when I return to Portugal.

The colourful palace is a 19th century Romanticist building dominating the top of a mountain near the intriguing town of Sintra (west of Lisbon).

The building is part of the attraction, the mountain top views are another reason for getting there.

On a clear day, you can see all the way to Lisbon, Estoril, Belém...

Along with the Torre de Belém, the Jerónimos Monastery, the Pena Palace is considered to be among the Seven Wonders of Portugal. It would be very hard to pick my favourite one.

As for the name: it's officially "Pena National Palace", but mustn't be confused with the white-grey coloured National Palace - found in the town of Sintra.

In the middle ages, up on the mountain top, there used to be a chapel and, later in the 15th century a monastery was constructed there as well.

In the 18th century, lightning strike had severely damaged the monastery and later the 1755 Great Lisbon Earthquake had left it in ruins. Still, the chapel survived, miraculously! And it's integrated within the palace (you can visit it).

King consort Ferdinand II of Portugal decided to erect the Pena Palace after having acquired the old (ruined) monastery and the chapel. This happened in the 1800's.

The surrounding lands and the Castle of the Moors were also acquired by the royals.

My entry ticket cost 18 EUR and, as I also mentioned in my Moorish Castle walkaround guide, it permitted entry to 3 attractions: the Pena Palace, the Moorish Castle and the park of the Pena Palace.

After having visited the Pena Palace, I took a walk in the beautiful park below it. Quite an intriguing place. More like a transformed forest than a park.

Unfortunately, part of the palace was covered due to undergoing restoration work. Too bad, one could say the best part of it was covered.

This is one of those bothering things that can badly affect an otherwise great visiting experience.
Luckily, I was still able to enjoy most of the castle...

I hope my photos are convincing enough why the Pena Palace is a "must see".

The building has an intricate complex architecture with playful design - created by the German engineer Baron Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege.

Asymmetrical building, full of surprises.
Passages, mini-turrets, towers, inner yards, varying colours and so on and so forth... Meandering pathways, tracks will bring you all around it.

The park below it is a green area with ponds, statues, small humble buildings here and there. A green park "converted" from a forest.

Don't expect a flower-filled garden like somewhere in Vienna or Paris. Yet, it's not less beautiful.

You will have to show your ticket even to be able to walk in the park. If you have no combo ticket, then you will have to obtain a separate one just for the park.

Of course, it's refreshing to spend time in the green park, watching the ducks swim in the ponds, discovering various places marked on the map. Plenty of slopes and serpentines, ferns and tall trees... plenty of green all around, the air full of oxygen.

As I walked around, most of the forest area seemed pretty much the same. Huge boulders, cliffs here and there, some bridges and small buildings scattered...

Today, the Pena National Palace is one of Portugal's most visited attractions.

I didn't expect it to be so beautiful, so complex from the architectural point-of-view. Intriguing.

Even if the restoration work has hindered me from fully enjoying my visit - as I would have wanted to, the sight was a "desert" for my architecture-obsessed eyes.

No more phrases, just photos below...

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