- Sintra forest
Parque Natural de Sintra-Cascais. If there is a magical forest, this is it. - 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. - Boulder Gate
The formal entrance to the Convent. - Sintra forest
Late afternoon in the forest of Sintra-Cascais - 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 - 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 - The Convent
The Convent is built around/between/under boulders. Probably my favourite place in the whole Portugal. It's just magic. - The Convent
Left and right from the hallway are the tiniest rooms I have ever seen. The doors are about 70 cm tall. - The kitchen
A rather luxurious kitchen in comparison to other rooms. - The Washroom
There are washing facilities, a cistern, a vat and latrines in the washroom. - Narrow pathways
Again, magic. I just can't imagine living here. - Stairs
A lot of people walked through these doors... - 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 :-) - Convento dos Capuchos
View of the Convent from the central Cloister. Unfortunately, the cloister was under reconstruction. - View from the Convent
View from the Convent towards the Atlantic Ocean - Tranquility
Such a magical place, the words cannot describe it. - Why?
- 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. - A cross
Scallop cross - 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. - 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. - Sintra forest
Sintra forest - 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. - Pena Palace
A very eclectic and exotic palace. I like it. - View from the Palace
SW view from the Palace over the Park towards the sea. - 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. - Patio dos Arcos
View of the Stag Room/dwellings of King Manuel II from the Patio dos Arcos. - Pena Park
We didn't really have the time to enjoy the park but one day I will return... - Eclectic palace
A very eclectic palace indeed. The chapel in the front and the clock tower in the back. I love the colours! - Detail
The interior is as exuberant as the exterior. - 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. - The Chapel
The chapel is part of the early monastery of the Hieronymite monks. - 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 window
Armillary sphere, Coats of arms of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Coats of arms of Portugal. - View of the Moorish castle
View from the Pena Palace towards the Moorish castle and a bit of the Atlantic Ocean. - Queen's bedroom
The ceiling in the Queen's bedroom. - A door in a door
- A cabinet
The palace is filled with fascinating furniture. - A telephone
An ancient telephone in the Queen's office. - 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. - Monkey stools
Sort of like The three wise monkeys: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Only these two are eating :-) - The Sacristy
I loove the tiles! - Decoration
This somehow reminds me of my great-grandmothers inheritance... she could easily have something like that in her house. - 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. - A chandelier
The chandelier in the Smoking Room. The ceiling is Islamic - Mudejar. - 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. - The view
View from the Noble Hall towards the inner court. - 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. - 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. - Baking molds
Rather interesting baking molds... in case you want to eat a dog or a bee. - The castle kitchen
A large kitchen was required for such a castle. - 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. - A window
Each window is different and all are interesting. - Pena Palace
Pena in the setting sun. - I love it!
I love the contrasting melange of styles. - The doors
Doors with "manueline" ropes. - Concrete baskets
Concrete woven baskets - "Manueline" window
This is a direct copy of the manueline chapterhouse window in the Convent of Christ in Tomar. - Pena Palace
Pena at sunset - Moorish Castle
View of the Moorish Castle and some typical boulders in the front - The Triton
He is one angry Triton. - Details
Details of the roof - Another window
Just another different window - Details
Details on the facade - 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. - Pena Palace
The Pena colours at sunset is even warmer. - Entrance to the Palace
- Sintra at night
A house opposite of our hotel at night - Sintra National Palace
The palace as seen from Rua Marechal Saldanha. - Wall decoration
Decoration in Miradouro da Villa, Sintra - A street sign
A street sign in Sintra. - Some stairs
Stairs in the town centre at night - Castelo dos Mouros
View of the Castelo from Largo Rainha Dona Amélia - Castelo dos Mouros
The castle at night. I love colour photos that appear black& white. - Palácio Nacional
The National Palace of Sintra, the medieval royal residence from 15th to 19th century. - The chimneys
The famous chimneys of Palácio Nacional de Sintra. - Palácio Nacional
The palace is a blend of Gothic, Manueline, Moorish, and Mudéjar styles... - The court of the National Palace
Another black&white colour photo. Besides, it looks like a cool optical illussion ;-) - Palácio Valenças
Sintra's Coat of arms on Palácio Valenças - Stone stairs
The stairs in our hotel - Quinta das murtas - Quinta das murtas
An ancient passage in the hotel - Quinta das murtas
A rather interesting decoration in the hotel. But is fits perfectly into the whole over-the-top town. - Quinta das murtas
And interesting furniture. - Cupboard pattern
The pattern of the cupboard in black and white. - Quinta das murtas
The reception of the hotel. It really puts you in the mood of the whole town. - Quinta das murtas
Mirror, mirror on the wall... - Camellia
A camellia and duckweed. But the camellia is neither red nor white, so what does that mean? - Stone stairs
Stairs in our hotel - Quinta das Murtas - Fountain
A fountain in the hotel's garden. Oh, there was also a pool (closed in winter) and a jacuzzi (open in winter :-) - Calla
So wonderful to see flowers in February. - A mandarin(?) tree
In the hotel garden, of course. You can tell that I really liked the place... - Quinta das Murtas
This was our room/cottage in the hotel. - Palácio Nacional
The same palace - Sintra National Palace - in daylight - Logs in Quinta
Perfection. - Portal of the Guardians
The gardens of Quinta da Regaleria - The entrance
The entrance to the Initiation Well. Rather dull compared to what's behind these doors.