Sintra and its Palace
Today’s adventure is a train ride out to Sintra. It is a highly scenic town situated on a hillside surrounded by greenery. In fact, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site for its contribution to Romantic landscaping and its influence throughout Europe. It is most famous for the National Palace which was the prime motivator for our trip out there. The palace is the oldest surviving palace in Portugal dating back to the 1300’s. While the palace remains, the surrounding walls and medieval houses were destroyed after the fall of the monarchy in 1910. Something I find odd is that a subsequent dictator is responsible for saving the palace.
The town is overlooked by the remains of a castle. The castle walls remain but there isn’t anything to see except a view so we decided against the 30-40 minute walk up the hill.
The historic center is spread across slopes of several steep hills.
Pretty tower is city hall.
Old town square where we had lunch.
The next post will be photos from the inside of the palace.
