Pena Palace - A Caleidoscope of Colours in Sintra, Portugal wikimapia.org/l/F5aaab With sunshine bathing its multicolored façades against a backdrop of deep blue sky, the Pena Palace in Sintra is like a castle seen through a kaleidoscope. A jumble of bright yellow domes, red towers, blue tiles, a drawbridge and a half-man, half-fish sculpture holding up a window, the Pena Palace is lauded as the finest example of Portuguese romanticism, an eclectic mix that borrows style notes from — among others — the Moors, German gothic revival and the local manueline architecture. Fernando II, husband of Portuguese Queen Maria II, had the palace built in the 1840s around the remains of a derelict monastery. Now tourists can wander through its ornate rooms and oversize kitchens as well as its sprawling gardens. And Pena is far from the only spectacular palace in Sintra, long a playground of royalty and the ostentatiously wealthy. The town’s altitude and shady forests have historically provided welcome relief from sweltering summer temperatures of the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, only a half-hour’s drive away. #Wikimapia #wikiplaces #Portugal #Sintra #palace
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 16:30:25 +0000
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