Monday, August 18, 2014

Park and Palace of Pena, Sintra, Portugal (August 14, 2014)

My morning walk up the hill to Pena Palace was rather pleasant as most people either chose to ride the public bus #434 (5 euros) or drive up to the site. There were long lines to purchase tickets at the main entrance of the Park and when I saw the crowd of passengers alighting from the bus and rushing to the ticket booths, I was glad that I walked up the hill and avoided them. 

I purchased a package deal to see the Park and Palace of Pena and the Moors Castle for 18 euros, which represented a savings of 3.50 euros (this versus buying the tickets separately ~ a single adult ticket to Pena and the Moors Castle was 14 euros and 7.50 euros respectively). I decided to visit the Moors Castle the next day as I was mentally saturated by the end of the day.

When I first saw Pena Palace up close, I was surprised by its cheesy, tacky theme-park look. The brochures promoted it as a "fine example of 19th-century Portuguese Romanticism". Err, not! It was hard to imagine how former Portuguese royals could have lived there. I thought the Palace facade looked just fine the way it was, without the new paint jobs. They really should re-do their restoration work on the facade because the modern paints were harsh and poorly blended in my humble opinion.

Facade aside, I thought the palace interiors were beautifully decorated; I especially liked the Queen's bedroom and dressing room. The builders of Pena were Queen of Portugal, Dona Maria II, and her husband King-Consort, Don Fernando II, who was often known as the Artist-King (he was formerly from Germany). After the Queen died in 1853, he married the Countess of Edla in 1869 and built a chalet for her in the Park.

Other royals who lived in the Palace included Don Pedro V and Dona Estefania (from 1853-1861), Don Luis I and Dona Maria Pia (1861-1889), Don Carlos I and Dona Amelia (1889-1908), and Don Manuel II (1908-1910).

The Park of Pena occupied almost eighty-five hectares of natural landscape and historic gardens that were carved and created by Don Fernando II himself. My blood pressure seemed to have dropped several notches when I strolled in the Park's natural environment; it was really soothing, calming, and decompressing.

Above: This chapel was originally part of the early monastery of Hieronymite monks

Above left: King Don Carlos' art studio, equipped with canvases painted by the King (who reined from 1889 to 1908); Above right: Chambers of King Don Carlos I

Above right: The King's bathroom

Above: Manueline Cloisters ~ originally part of the 16th-C monastery (that Don Fernando II had purchased from to build Pena)

Above: The Queen's bedroom

Above: The Queen's office

Above left: The Queen's Terrace; Above right: So glad I beat the crowds of people waiting in line to enter the Palace

Above left: This sun-dial was fitted with an automatic cannon that would sound at midday

Above left: Kitchen ~ an exhibition of the cookware used at the time to prepare banquets; Above right: A turret ~ minaret with Moorish dome

Above right: Portugal's flag and the Coat of Arms of D. Fernando II of Portugal and Saxe-Coburg-Cotha

Above left: Main facade tiles ~ geometric Moorish pattern

Above: Cruz Alta ~ carved in stone as intertwined branches at the highest point on the Sintra Hills at 529 m, this was a replica of the original cross that fell during a lightning storm; the original was raised by D. Joao III in the 16th-C

Above right: Saint Catherine's Heights ~ Queen Dona Amelia's favorite viewpoint; the "Queen's Throne" was carved in the rock

Above left: View of Pena Palace from Saint Catherine's Heights

Above right: Lake of the Shell

Above: Queen's Fern Valley

Above right: Fountain of the Small Birds ~ Islamic style pavilion; its spherical dome was inscripted in Arabic

Above right: Plate of the day ~ fried fish fillets with chips, rice, and salad (6 euros) and a glass of white wine (3 euros)

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