Sintra, Portugal is a one-stop-shop if you are into castle crawls. There are three of them within three kilometers of each other that we set out to see during our stay. Today was a lovely sunny day to knock the remaining two off our, or shall I say, my list—the Pena Palace and Moorish Castle. I was giddy. As for the rest of the family? They were good sports!
Though both castles are only a ten-minute walk from each other, the two couldn't be more different in style.
You can't miss the whimsical Pena Palace sitting high on the hill with its mishmash of architectural styles and blazing red and yellow colors. The bright blue sky completed its primary color palette perfectly. Originally, it was a monastery (just the red portion), which didn't fare well in The Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755. The artistic King Ferdinand II bought it in the 19th century and built a palace for his royal family to summer. The yellow arches and domes showcase Moorish influence, while the blue-tiled structures are reminiscent of the Manueline style we saw so much of in Lisbon.
This palace was a fantastic spot to bask in the sunshine and eat our picnic lunch. There were many towers to climb with 360 degrees views of the countryside, Lisbon and our first sighting of the Atlantic Ocean. A highlight for Kate was seeing the palace's inside, which displayed multiple furnished rooms and an enormous kitchen filled with copper pots. Rarely have we had much access to furnished interiors on our castle or palace tours.
King Ferdinand II enjoyed his view of the Moorish Castle, which sat right below his castle so much, that he had its 9th-century crumbling walls rebuilt. This fortress was a very important and powerful one to the Moors, Christians, Jews and Vikings, each of whom were rulers of it at one point.
Pena Palace is in the right corner and the Moorish Castle is in the forefront.
The graystone Moorish Castle offered eagle-eye views over the entire region from its many defensive towers and provided a great stairmaster workout. With no safety railings in sight, mama bear's adrenaline was pumping. If you accidentally lost your balance, you'd go tumbling a mile down the mountain! From there, we continued our journey down the hillside and ended up walking through old picturesque neighborhoods that lead us into the historic part of town.
And that ends our castle crawl for a while, though Sintra does have more palaces to see. I can honestly say our whole family enjoyed the field trip! Thank you to my friend, Tara, who inspired us to come here after seeing her beautiful photos of her visit to Sintra!
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