Day 12: Sun 5 Sep - Lisbon

Sintra tour – caught the train to Sintra and saw National Palace Sintra, Pena Palace and a Castle of the Moors.

Sintra National Palace (a castle) is a present-day historic house museum and the best-preserved medieval royal residence in Portugal, being inhabited more or less continuously from at least the early 15th century to the late 19th century. It is a significant tourist attraction, and is part of the cultural landscape of Sintra, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Bed chamber of King Sebastian

Ceiling in one of the Tower Halls

Chapel

Kitchen

Castle of the Moors (on top of the hill) from the National Palace

The Pena Palace is a Romanticist castle on the Portuguese Riviera. The castle stands on the top of a hill in the Sintra Mountains above the town of Sintra, and on a clear day it can be easily seen from Lisbon and much of its metropolitan area. It is a national monument and constitutes one of the major expressions of 19th-century Romanticism in the world. The palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal. It is also used for state occasions by the President of the Portuguese Republic and other government officials.

The Castle of the Moors is a hilltop medieval castle located 25km northwest of Lisbon. Built by the Moors in the 8th and 9th centuries, it was an important strategic point during the Reconquista and was taken by Christian forces after the fall of Lisbon in 1147. It is classified a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The castle is an irregularly planned military outpost that follows a 450-metre perimeter on top of a mountainous cliff, oriented southwest to northwest. It consists of a double line of military walls that meanders over the granite terrain of the promontory. 

Sunrise from my room

Scenes from the train

Jane and Wendy waiting for the train back to Lisbon