Sintra is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 377,835, in an area of 319.23 square kilometres (123.26 sq mi). Sintra is one of the most urbanized and densely populated municipalities of Portugal. A major tourist destination famed for its picturesqueness, the municipality has several historic palaces, castles, scenic beaches, parks and gardens.
The Pena Palace is a Romanticist castle in São Pedro de Penaferrim, in the municipality of Sintra, 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 Manueline, occasionally known as Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese architectural style originating in the 16th century, during the Portuguese Renaissance and Age of Discoveries. Manueline architecture incorporates maritime elements and representations of the discoveries brought from the voyages of Vasco da Gama and Pedro Álvares Cabral. This innovative style synthesizes aspects of Late Gothic Flamboyant architecture with original motifs and influences of the Plateresque, Mudéjar, Italian, and Flemish architecture. It marks the transition from Late Gothic to Renaissance. The construction of churches and monasteries in Manueline was largely financed by proceeds of the lucrative spice trade with Africa and India.
Luigi Pietro Manini, Count of Fagagna was an Italian set designer, architect, painter. He arrived in Lisbon, Portugal in 1879, where he lived until he returned to Italy in 1913. Manini was responsible for some of the most striking architectural designs in Portugal; some of his most famous works include:
The Sintra-Cascais Natural Park is a park on the Portuguese Riviera, one of the 13 Natural Parks of Portugal. While only established in 1994 as a Natural Park by the Portuguese Government, it has been protected since 1981. Its area is approximately 145 km2. The park includes the Serra de Sintra Mountain Range but extends all the way to the coast and Cabo da Roca, continental Europe's westernmost point. It contains the Castle of the Moors. Located within 25 km of Lisbon, the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park is a popular tourism area, with many different individual historical and natural sites and attractions. Sintra and Cascais are towns and municipalities in the Lisbon / Estoril Coast.
Portuguese architecture refers to both the architecture of Portugal's modern-day territory in Continental Portugal, the Azores and Madeira, as well as the architectural heritage/patrimony of Portuguese architects and styles throughout the world, particularly in countries formerly part of the Portuguese Empire.
Portuguese Gothic architecture is the architectural style prevalent in Portugal in the Late Middle Ages. As in other parts of Europe, Gothic style slowly replaced Romanesque architecture in the period between the late 12th and the 13th century. Between the late 15th and early 16th century, Gothic was replaced by Renaissance architecture through an intermediate style called Manueline.
The architecture of the Portuguese Renaissance intimately linked to Gothic architecture and gradual in its classical elements. The Manueline style was a transitional style that combined Renaissance and Gothic ornamental elements to buildings that were architectonically closer to Gothic architecture, as is the Isabelline style of Spain. Manueline was succeeded by a brief Early Renaissance phase, closer to Classical canons, followed by the adoption of Mannerist forms. Portuguese Mannerism, specially in secular architecture, is characterised by simplicity in the organisation of façades and relative lack of decoration, being often referred to as Estilo Chão. Even with the arrival of Baroque architecture in the late 17th century, Portuguese architecture continued to use Mannerist forms well into the 18th century.
Quinta da Regaleira[ˈkĩ.tɐ dɐ ˈʁɨ.ɡɐ.lɐj.ɾɐ] is a quinta located near the historic centre of Sintra, Portugal. It is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO within the "Cultural Landscape of Sintra". Along with the other palaces in the area such as the Quinta do Relógio, Pena, Monserrate and Seteais palaces, it is considered one of the principal tourist attractions of Sintra.
The Buçaco Palace is a former convent that today houses a luxury hotel located in the Buçaco mountain range, in the municipality of Mealhada, in central Portugal. It is a national monument.
The Palace of Beau-Séjour is a 19th-century Portuguese manor house situated in the civil parish of São Domingos de Benfica, municipality of Lisbon.
The Castle of the Moors is a hilltop medieval castle located in the central Portuguese civil parish of Santa Maria e São Miguel, in the municipality of Sintra, about 25 km (16 mi) 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 as a National Monument, part of the Sintra Cultural Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Portuguese Riviera is a term used in the tourist industry for the affluent coastal region to the west of Lisbon, Portugal, centered on the coastal municipalities of Cascais, Oeiras and Sintra. It is coterminous with the Estoril Coast and occasionally known as the Costa do Sol. The region is internationally known as a luxury destination for its history as a home of the wealthy, the famous, and European royalty. Cascais, Oeiras and Sintra municipalities consistently rank among the richest municipalities in Portugal.
Quinta[ˈkĩ.tɐ] is a traditional term for an estate, primarily used in Portugal and the Portuguese-speaking world, but the term has sometimes been borrowed in non-Portuguese speaking countries of Ibero-America.
Quinta do Relógio is a quinta located near the historic center of Sintra, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO within the "Cultural Landscape of Sintra". Along with the nearby palaces such as Seteais Palace and the Quinta da Regaleira next to it, it is considered one of the tourist attractions of Sintra. The property consists of a romantic palace and chapel, and a park. Relógio was featured in numerous publications internationally including Variety magazine, and Architectural Digest, when pop star Madonna reportedly purchased the property.
The Palácio dos Condes de Castro Guimarães, originally known as the Torre de São Sebastião, was built in 1900 as an aristocrat’s summer residence in Cascais, Lisbon District, Portugal. It became a museum in 1931. The building follows an eclectic architectural style, while the museum includes paintings of national and international significance, furniture, porcelain, jewellery and a neo-Gothic organ.
The Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading is a library and lusophone cultural institution, is located in Luís de Camões Street, number 30, in the center of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is listed by the State Institute of Cultural Heritage. Elected the fourth most beautiful library in the world by Time magazine, the Cabinet has the largest collection of Portuguese literature outside Portugal.
Summer architecture was a Portuguese architectural movement originating in the Portuguese Riviera, in late 19th and early 20th century, when the region became a popular resort destination for the Portuguese Royal Family and the Portuguese aristocracy. The movement is not characterized by any single architectural style or artistic school, but rather unified by common themes, including leisure, wellness, exoticism, and heterotopia.
The Sanctuary of Peninha is situated in the Sintra Mountains in the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, in the Lisbon District of Portugal. It stands at an altitude of 448 metres on top of a rocky outcrop, which provides views over the coastline and inland areas. In addition to a baroque chapel, completed in 1710, the location contains the Palace of Peninha, which dates from 1918, as well as remains of a hermitage. The interiors of neither the chapel nor the palace can presently be visited.
The Arseny Morozov House is a historic building located at 16 Vozdvizhenka Street, Moscow. It was designed by Viktor Mazyrin for his friend Arseny Morozov. The pair had toured around Portugal and been impressed by the Pena Palace in Sintra. An eclectic building with Neo-Manueline architecture, the Morozov House was constructed on the land presented to Arseny by his mother Varvara. Mazyrin built the house between 1895 and 1899.
