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Because there’s so much to see in Sintra1 we decided to go back for a second visit.
Our first stop was Quinta da Regaleira (humorously known as “The Palace of Monteiro the Millionaire“), a palatial estate perhaps most famous for its Knights Templar well. One nice thing about it is it’s within walking distance of the Sintra train station, albeit with a few fairly steep hills towards the end.
Built in the Romantic tradition, there’s a lot to see as you wander around the grounds.
But probably the biggest attraction is the famous initiation well2 that is purportedly linked to the Knights Templar.
I can neither confirm nor deny that, having walked it, Barbara & I may now be members of that order.
I could tell you what that entails…but you might not like what might happen afterwards3 :).
Turns out there are quite a few underground passageways in this area of the estate. Fortunately, most of the tunnels were big enough that I didn’t have to stoop over to navigate them.
We continued our explorations after we emerged. At one point, off in the distance, we could see the remains of the walls surrounding the Castelo dos Mouros (“Moorish Castle”), dating back to when the Moors governed what is now Portugal.
There were quite a few other structures to admire as well, including the castle which was the main reason the estate was created.
We had a very nice lunch in an outdoor cafe right outside the castle itself.
One of the things I noticed about Portuguese castles is that they’re not generally as ornately decorated as, say, English or French castles (which are the only other ones I’m familiar with). I suspect this probably reflects the overall economic and political might of the respective nations at the time the castles were occupied by nobility.
As always when wandering through castles and other fancy living quarters, you need to remember to look up: the ceilings are generally as thoroughly decorated as anything you’ll see at eye or floor level.
The castle also featured some very impressive door knockers.
When we were leaving the estate we did ran across one of the few plants that were still in bloom. I would’ve loved to have seen what the grounds looked like in the spring!
Our next stop was the Palácio Nacional de Sintra (“National Palace of Sintra”), “…the best-preserved medieval royal residence in Portugal, [having been] inhabited more or less continuously from at least the early 15th century to the late 19th century“. It offered some sweeping views of the surrounding country.
And some very impressive doorways.
The furniture, as expected, was beautiful…
…as was the artwork.
Sintra being in Portugal, there was also a lot of tilework on display :).
Not to mention some ornate ceilings.
1 thought on “Quinta da Regaleira and Palácio Nacional de Sintra”
All beautiful and the well is very intriguing. Your description of the estate led me to find out what “Quinta” translates to, given the motel chain “La Quinta”. Rather pretentious of them to use the name! Thanks again for sharing your adventures.