Monserrate Park & Palace, Sintra.
After a few hours visiting the Castelo dos Mouros in Sintra, which you can read about here, we then drove to Monserrate Park & Palace, also in Sintra. We were glad to find the car-park was reasonably sized and there were spaces available; the main challenge of visiting popular tourist sites in busy Sintra is finding somewhere to park!
According to their website, Monserrate Park & Palace is:
“… one of the most beautiful architectural and landscape creations of Romanticism in Portugal: the Park and Palace of Monserrate, unique testimonies of 19th century eclecticism.” (Source here).
You can read all about the history of the Palace here.
Luckily there was no queue to purchase tickets at the main entrance (€8 pp). For more information on opening times and prices see here.
Equipped with a map we headed off to begin exploring, starting with a walk through some of the extensive garden, following the suggested route which you can find here.
“The gardens received species from all over the world and were organized by geographic areas. The lawn in front of the Palace allows the deserved rest, during the discovery of one of the richest Portuguese botanical gardens.” (Source here).
We made our way to the Palace itself and began by walking around the exterior, so pretty!
The Palace:
“… combines Gothic, Indian influences and Moorish suggestions, as well as exotic and vegetal motifs that extend harmoniously abroad.” (Source here).
Next we went into the Palace, there was only a handful of people inside which made for a very enjoyable experience.
Inside the entrance hall:
The roof of the main atrium (below), with its octagonal shaped dome, a wooden structure decorated with stucco:
The next image is of the corridor that is between (and connects) the three Palace towers. The columns and arches accentuate the depth.
The interior of the “Sala de Jantar” - the dining room. The stucco and stencil in this room is a technique that was widely used in England.
Below is photo of the impressive ceiling in the Library and the shelves are made of walnut:
Some of the decorative details inside the “Sala de Estar” - the living room:
Inside the nicest room of the Palace, the “Sala de Musica” - the music room. As you can see, they were all prepared for Christmas when we were there! Equipped with excellent acoustics, it occupies the North tower of the building. Stucco detail coupled with golden floral motifs.
The ceiling of the music room:
Below you can see some of the statues/busts that are around the entire circumference of the room, Apollo, Muses and Saint Cecilia, among others:
In the next photo, you can see the marble fountain that is in the main atrium:
A model of the Palace:
When we came out from the Palace, we headed off down another path to check out more of the gardens and get a better view of the Palace.
Pictured below is the Casa de Pedra. In the past this building had a carpentry on the top floor and a cow house on the ground floor, today it is the headquarters of the Parques de Sintra.
We probably spent about 2.5 hours at the Palace but you could definitely spend more time, the gardens are so big and you could easily clock up a few kilometres looping around taking it all in.
More Sintra Recommendations:
Some other attractions that we love in Sintra include:
- Castelo dos Mouros.
- Chalet & Garden of Countess Edla.
- Sintra-Cascais Natural Park.
- A coastal walk at Cabo da Roca & Enjoying the View at Cabo da Roca.
If you've any questions, suggestions or just want to say hello, contact me via the Contact Form, Instagram (@noroadlongenough) or By Email noroadlongenough1@gmail.com