Sintra is a town located about 40 km west of Lisbon, Portugal. It serves as a Royal dwelling for a while and has conserved its picturesque architecture over the centuries.
The site encompasses several buildings, palaces, castles and gardens that have belonged to the Portuguese royalty. They are also primer examples of Portuguese traditions. This next picture, for example, was taken in the Palace of Sintra (which is in downtown Sintra) and shows how the Portuguese worked with ceramics and made amazing art pieces, to the point where even their walls were covered by it!
The hill overlooking downtown is the home to both the Castle of the Moors and the Palace of Pena. In this picture, you see the Castle, which remains from the time the Moors took over the Iberian peninsula.
The Palace of Pena was the home of Portuguese rulers for a while too. Its beauty is beyond words. It also has amazing views--you can even see Lisbon from it!
When visiting, make sure you pay a taxi to take you up. I thought saving 5 E would be worth it--it's not. The palace and the castle look like they're close, but the walk uphill can take up to an hour.
The palace has several rooms, but also a chapel. This chapel is widely recognized in Portugal and is truly a national symbol of faith and culture.
The views form the palace and castle are amazing. Both fulfilled administrative and protective purposes. The castle came before the palace, but both add to the magic of this place--uniting Christian and Muslim traditions that have been present there in the past.
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