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This palace is beautiful. Everything from the inside out it beautiful. Make sure to visit the garden in summer!
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Date of experience: January 2021
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Portugal continues to amaze us with its incredible landscapes, delicious food and warm people. Definitely a place we all should visit.
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Date of experience: August 2020
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Pena Palace is often compared to the most famous castle in Europe, Neuschwanstein. There are good reasons for this. German Romanticism was also noted here. But not by Ludwig II, but by Fernando II, who was originally Ferdinand of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty. The German Prince Consort, having married the Portuguese Queen Maria II, was noted in the history of not only Pena, but also a large number of children. If we talk about Freud, then maybe that's why Neuschwanstein turned out to be much cooler than Pen. Ferdinand's sexual appetite was not completely sublimated in architecture like Ludwig's. And poor Maria on the 12th child could not stand it and died in childbirth. Like Neuschwanstein, the Foam is built on the site of an existing building. And unlike the Bavarian counterpart, part of the previous chapel was built into the palace. The chapel survived the earthquake of 1755, unlike the rest of the monastery. The natural element showed artistic taste and legibility in Sintra: it was the chapel with an alabaster altar by Nicolas Chanterin, the author of the portal in the monastery of Geronimos, that survived. Lieutenant-General and mining engineer Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege, a German amateur architect, led the construction of the royal couple's summer residence. Construction was carried out between 1842 and 1854 with the active participation of both the Queen (she was constantly pregnant and had no time for state affairs) and King Ferdinand, who became King after the conception of the heir. The palace turned out to be a celebration of eclecticism. All the sentences probably began with the words:" And let's add more... " And then to taste. According to the taste of the person who was offering at that moment. Here, pseudo-Gothic, let's then anything Portuguese (Azulejos?). Let's put a Moorish dome on it, surround it with a wall with battlements, paint it all yellow and add a pink tower. And you forgot! Let's also put a clock on the tower! O. K. Cool! If you think it's just outside, then you're wrong! The royal chambers and the state and ballrooms look just as pretentious. The continuation of the Moorish dome will be an Arab Hall for some reason with tromple paintings, but the Indian Hall has no connotation in the exterior. Probably there was not enough space for a Jain temple or a Buddhist stupa. Travel guides advise you to take a break from the riot of colors in the park. From the riot-yes, everything is more or less green there, but from the eclecticism-no! The park is a huge 240-hectare collection of plants and trees from all over the world - from American redwoods to Japanese Cryptomeria. It was believed that this makes the atmosphere of the park healing, especially for allergy sufferers and asthmatics. Making your way along the winding paths past picturesque eucalyptus trees, Australian ferns and authentic local lichens, you really relax...…
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Date of experience: February 2020
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They say that Sintra is the Versailles of Portugal because of all the palaces. They're not wrong. The unique thing about this palace is that it has architecture from a variety of different eras due to different cultures constantly overthrowing each other. It's quite considerate, actually, that they decided not to completely demolish the palace but to simply add on to it. Hence the multi-colored and eclectic appearance. The inside is interesting, but it does get crowded and it's quite a long tour. So if you like that sort of thing - you'll love this. For those that don't and can get a bit antsy or only hear so much history - you can sneak past the larger tour groups holding things up and just stop at the places you want to check out. In my opinion - the outside was the best part. Beautiful flora and fauna, plenty of fresh air, and gorgeous views of Portugal. …
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Date of experience: March 2020
1 Helpful vote
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Something out of a fairytale. Another must see if you are visiting Lisbon. We took a small group tour, just 8 people. Lots of walking but well worth it.
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Date of experience: December 2019
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