- Portoferraio
A pedestrian tunnel through the fortress's walls - Portoferraio
Linguella Museum of Archeology in the Medicean Fortress - A on Elba
Aaaah, the A. The largest sailing yacht. 143m long. And about a 100 m tall. It spent several days on Elba so we saw a lot of it, from all sides. - Elba
From Colle Reciso towards San Martino - Elba
From Colle Reciso towards San Martino - Lacona
A granary, I believe. - Church of the Madonna della Neve
The original building dates back to the Romanesque-Pisan period of the 12th century, the rest is mostly from the 16th century. - Palácio Valenças
Sintra's Coat of arms on Palácio Valenças - The court of the National Palace
Another black&white colour photo. Besides, it looks like a cool optical illussion ;-) - Palácio Nacional
The palace is a blend of Gothic, Manueline, Moorish, and Mudéjar styles... - The chimneys
The famous chimneys of Palácio Nacional de Sintra. - Palácio Nacional
The National Palace of Sintra, the medieval royal residence from 15th to 19th century. - Castelo dos Mouros
The castle at night. I love colour photos that appear black& white. - Castelo dos Mouros
View of the Castelo from Largo Rainha Dona Amélia - Some stairs
Stairs in the town centre at night - A street sign
A street sign in Sintra. - Wall decoration
Decoration in Miradouro da Villa, Sintra - Sintra National Palace
The palace as seen from Rua Marechal Saldanha. - Sintra at night
A house opposite of our hotel at night - Entrance to the Palace
- Pena Palace
The Pena colours at sunset is even warmer. - Patio dos Arcos
We were one of the last visitors there, enjoying the sunset. - Patio dos Arcos
The warm setting sun was literally caressing my soul. - Details
Details on the facade - Details
Details of the roof - Another window
Just another different window - The Triton
He is one angry Triton. - Moorish Castle
View of the Moorish Castle and some typical boulders in the front - "Manueline" window
This is a direct copy of the manueline chapterhouse window in the Convent of Christ in Tomar. - Pena Palace
Pena at sunset - Concrete baskets
Concrete woven baskets - The doors
Doors with "manueline" ropes. - I love it!
I love the contrasting melange of styles. - Pena Palace
Pena in the setting sun. - A window
Each window is different and all are interesting. - The Triton: half-man and half-fish
The Triton above the Arch of the Triton, called officially the "Allegoric Gate to the creation of the World". The water-world is in the ground floor and the upper floor is the world of plants - most notably the tree and the wines. The transition is made by water weed. - The castle kitchen
A large kitchen was required for such a castle. - Baking molds
Rather interesting baking molds... in case you want to eat a dog or a bee. - A copper pig mold
I am not quite sure if this is a cooking, baking, terrine, or an aspic mold. Or something completely different. It was found in the kitchen, though. - Stained-glass window
SS: BERARDVS, PETRVS, ACCVRSIVS, ADIVTVS ET, OTTO, MARTIJRES, ORDINIS, S. FRACIS[CVS] 1644". These are the Holy Martyrs of Morocco, Franciscan Protomartyrs. - The view
View from the Noble Hall towards the inner court. - Another chandelier
The chandelier in the Noble Hall. Initially the Hall of the Ambassadors, later transformed into a Billiards Room. - Stained-glass windows
Stained windows in the Noble Hall. King Ferdinand's collection of central European stained glass. - A chandelier
The chandelier in the Smoking Room. The ceiling is Islamic - Mudejar. - A chandelier
The chandelier in the Indian room, also called the Smoking Room. The glass neo-rococo chandelier dates from the mid-19th century and is a representation of ta Morning Glory with grapes. - Decoration
This somehow reminds me of my great-grandmothers inheritance... she could easily have something like that in her house. - The Sacristy
I loove the tiles! - Monkey stools
Sort of like The three wise monkeys: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Only these two are eating :-) - The Arab Room
This Arab room is the official Reception Room. The whole room, painted by Paolo Pizzi in 1854, is a huge optical illusion. - A telephone
An ancient telephone in the Queen's office. - A cabinet
The palace is filled with fascinating furniture. - A door in a door
- Queen's bedroom
The ceiling in the Queen's bedroom. - View of the Moorish castle
View from the Pena Palace towards the Moorish castle and a bit of the Atlantic Ocean. - The Chapel window
Armillary sphere, Coats of arms of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Coats of arms of Portugal. - The Chapel window
The stained-glass window. As far as I know, we've got: Madonna on the crescent; Saint George and the dragon; Don Manuel I of Portugal, who donated the Convent of Our Lady of Pena to the Order of the Hieronymites in 1503; Vasco da Gama with his boats and Torre de Belem in the background. - The Chapel
The chapel is part of the early monastery of the Hieronymite monks. - Royal dining room
This part of the palace was a former monastery. Refectory of the Hieronymite Monks was converted into this private royal dining room. The room has a vaulted Manueline ceiling from the 16th century and the tiles on the walls are from the 19th century. The table is set as for the Christmas dinner. - Detail
The interior is as exuberant as the exterior. - Eclectic palace
A very eclectic palace indeed. The chapel in the front and the clock tower in the back. I love the colours! - Pena Park
We didn't really have the time to enjoy the park but one day I will return... - Patio dos Arcos
View of the Stag Room/dwellings of King Manuel II from the Patio dos Arcos. - The entrance
The entrance. This is the official entrance, which is different from the actual entrance and different from the first entrance... The tiles are showing geometric Moorish patterns. - View from the Palace
SW view from the Palace over the Park towards the sea. - Pena Palace
A very eclectic and exotic palace. I like it. - Pena Palace
Pena palace in the mountains above Sintra is an example of nineteenth century Portuguese Romanticism. It was built by Dona Maria II, Queen of Portugal, Don Fernando II and The Countess of Edla and completed in 1854. - Sintra forest
Sintra forest - Entrance to the Convent
The Convent was built according to the simplicity of the Brothers and their complete submission to spiritual values. The harmony between human and divine works was established by placing the convent literally between the boulders. In the middle of a wonderful nowhere. - The Church
Marble altar-piece was donated by the Castro family. The coat of arms of the family is on the left. It was D. Álvaro de Castro who founded the Convent. - A cross
Scallop cross - Remains of a statue
The Convent was abandoned in 1834 when religious orders were suppressed in Portugal. It was privately owned until 1949 and in 1995 it fell under UNESCO protection. Renovated, it opened for public in 2001. - Why?
- Tranquility
Such a magical place, the words cannot describe it. - View from the Convent
View from the Convent towards the Atlantic Ocean - Convento dos Capuchos
View of the Convent from the central Cloister. Unfortunately, the cloister was under reconstruction. - Saint Francis
Chapel of Our Lord in Gethsemane painted by André Reinoso (17th century). The Convent was inhabited by the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, which were founded in 1525 from Franciscans. They wore hoods (or cappuccio), which also gave them the name. Oh, and the colour of their robes was brownish, which gave the name to capuccino :-) - Stairs
A lot of people walked through these doors... - Narrow pathways
Again, magic. I just can't imagine living here. - The Washroom
There are washing facilities, a cistern, a vat and latrines in the washroom. - The kitchen
A rather luxurious kitchen in comparison to other rooms. - The Convent
Left and right from the hallway are the tiniest rooms I have ever seen. The doors are about 70 cm tall. - The Convent
The Convent is built around/between/under boulders. Probably my favourite place in the whole Portugal. It's just magic. - The Cork Convent
The Convent is insulated with cork, hence the alternative name "Cork Convent". The name was given by William Beckford in his diary of a journey to Portugal in 1787. The cork is obtained from the many oaks in the grounds. - Door of Death
The Door of Death is the entrance to the Convent, symbolising renunciation of the world - Courtyard of the Bell
The entrance to the Convent. Two paths around the cross symbolise the free will of the ones entering. - Courtyard of the Fountain
Stone benches and the fountain that gives the name to the courtyard - Sintra forest
Late afternoon in the forest of Sintra-Cascais - Boulder Gate
The formal entrance to the Convent. - The entrance
The entrance of the Convent of the Capuchos (Convento dos Capuchos), or - as it is officially called - Convent of the Holy Cross of the Sintra Mountains (Convento de Santa Cruz da Serra da Sintra). Founded in 1560 and inhabited until 1834. One of the Crosses in the courtyard of the Crosses. - Sintra forest
Parque Natural de Sintra-Cascais. If there is a magical forest, this is it.