Sintra – Cabo da Roca – Guincho
Mafra – Praia da Adraga – Azenhas do Mar
Fonte da Telha – Cabo Espichel – Sesimbra
Mafra
Mafra is a city on the west coast of Portugal, mostly known for the sumptuous Mafra National Palace. Built in the baroque style, it also inspired Portuguese Nobel Prize laureate José Saramago to write his novel Baltasar and Blimunda (Memorial do Convento). Other points of interest around the city include the Tapada Nacional de Mafra, an enclosed wildlife and game reserve.
The palace, which also served as a Franciscan monastery, was built during the reign of King John V, in 18 century as consequence of a vow made by the king in 1711 to build a convent if his wife, Queen Mary Anne of Austria, gave him offspring. The palace was conveniently located near the royal hunting preserves and became a secondary residence for the royal family. The palace was built symmetrically from a central axis, occupied by the basilica. This vast complex is among the most sumptuous Baroque buildings in Portugal and one of the largest royal palaces, designed by the German architect João Frederico Ludovice.
The facade with two major towers is 220 meters long, the whole complex covers 37,790 m² with about 1,200 rooms, more than 4,700 doors and windows, and 156 stairways, embellished with marble, exotic woods and countless artworks taken from France, Flanders and Italy. The basilica is decorated with several Italian statues and includes six historical pipe organs and two carillons, composed of 92 bells. The building also includes an infermery and a major library with about 40,000 rare books.
Cabo da Roca
is a cape which forms the westernmost extent of continental Europe and the Eurasian land mass.
Cabo Espichel
Cape Espichel is located to the west of Sesimbra, only 50 km south of Lisbon. Tourists are drawn there due to the impressive views of its cliffs facing the Atlantic Ocean.
The location is famous for the a sanctuary complex (Santuário de Nossa Senhora do Cabo Espichel), built extremely close to the edge of the tall cliffs, which includes a church still in use today.
Also famous, are the several dinosaur fossil trackways exposed in some of the now tilted Jurassic strata which form the cape’s cliffs. It is said that local superstition interpreted the trackways as the path taken by the Holy Virgin (“Nossa Senhora”) when riding a giant mule from the ocean and up the cliffs. This myth led to the construction of the convent at that location.
Sintra
Sintra and its mystical hills dotted with fairytale palaces and extravagant villas have bewitched visitors for centuries. The Romans made it a place of cult moon worshiping and named it “Cynthia” after the goddess of the moon. Later the Moors also fell in love with the lush vegetation and built a hilltop castle, a palace, and several fountains around the town. After the reconquest by the christians it became the summer residence of the Portuguese royal family and attracted a number of wealthy aristocrats who built huge mansions and villas where they sought refuge from the summer heat in the city.
Famous British poet and traveler Lord Byron stopped by in the 18th century, writing that the town is “perhaps in every respect the most delightful in Europe,” and calling it a “glorious Eden” in his epic poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. His fellow countryman Robert Southey followed him and saw it as “the most blessed spot on the whole inhabitable globe.” Others made it their own private retreat, such as William Beckford (one of England’s wealthiest men), who lived in the splendid Monserrate Palace, later bought by Francis Cook.
It is indeed an extraordinary place with a surreal mixture of history and fantasy, protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Its fairytale palaces, incredible vistas, and notable museum collections make it a destination you should make the effort to see, especially if you visit Lisbon.
It is easy to reach from the capital, just a 30-minute drive on the IC19 highway, although taking the train is really the best option. Parking spots are scarce, and it is better seen on foot. The train ride takes about 40 minutes from Rossio Station in the center of Lisbon.
In the main square you find the National Palace, dating from the 14th century. Its two gigantic conical chimneys are the town’s most recognizable landmarks, while the rest of the building is a combination of the Moorish, Gothic and Manueline styles. Inside it possesses what is said to be the most extensive collection of Mudejar Azulejos (colored glazed tiles) in the world, and several exceptional rooms. The Sala dos Brasões (“Coat-of-Arms Room”) stands out for its domed ceiling decorated with stags holding the coats of arms of 74 Portuguese noble families and for its walls lined with 18th-century tiled panels. The former banquet hall, Sala dos Cisnes (“Room of the Swans”), also has a magnificent ceiling, divided into octagonal panels decorated with swans painted in the 17th century. Other highlights include the “Magpie Room” (named for the birds that decorate the ceiling), the Royal Chapter of King John I, the huge kitchen with a capacity for 1000 diners, and the interior courtyards where the poet Camões read his verses to the king.
But the most famous building in Sintra is Pena Palace. Built in the 1840s, it is one of Europe’s most fantastic palaces, often compared to Neuschwanstein and the other mock-medieval castles of Ludwig of Bavaria in Germany, although it was actually built more than two decades before those. It includes a drawbridge, a conglomeration of turrets, ramparts, and domes, and a gargoyle above a Neo-Manueline arch, all washed in an array of pastel shades. The extravagant interior is decorated in late Victorian and Edwardian furnishings, rich ornaments, paintings, and priceless porcelain preserved just as the royal family left them. Other highlights include the spacious ballroom, the marvelous “Arab Room”, and an impressive 16th-century chapel altarpiece (part of an original convent founded to celebrate the first sight of Vasco da Gama’s returning fleet).
Surrounding the palace is the mystical Pena Park, filled with a variety of trees and exotic plants from the former colonies of the Portuguese empire, ponds, fountains, and black swans. There is also a charming lodge hidden among the trees that can be visited. At the highest point is a statue of King Ferdinand looking towards his palace, and a viewpoint called “Cruz Alta” overlooking the Pena Palace and its surroundings.
A number of luxurious old villas are scattered around the park. The most famous (for being part of the setting of Roman Polanski’s “The Ninth Gate” starring Johnny Depp) is Challet Biester, with dark conic rooftops and Gothic windows.
Another remarkable building is the fantasy “Palace of the Millions,” part of the Regaleira Estate. Built at the close of the 19th century in Gothic, Manueline and Renaissance styles, it sprouts turrets and towers. It is surrounded by a garden filled with mythological and esoteric symbols – statues of gods, mysterious wells, ponds, and grottoes. The highlight is an almost supernatural tunnel staircase that symbolizes death leading into a “Garden of Eden,” symbolizing “rebirth” or the entrance to Heaven. You are free to look around unguided, although the option of a guided tour is worth taking to get the full flavor of the place.
