Tuesday, October 1, 2024

2024 Portugal: Sintra - Old Town, National Palace

After spending five days in Porto, our next stop was Sintra, a municipality in the “Greater Lisbon” region that is known for its palaces.  To get there, we first took a 3+ hour inter-city train from Porto Campagne station to Lisbon Oriente station.  We bought First Class tickets which gave us wider seats, more leg room, a footrest for me so that my feet didn’t dangle, lots of space for our luggage, and power sockets so that I could use my laptop during the trip. Unlike air travel, the price difference between First vs Second (or Comfort vs Tourist) class was not significant and made for a much more pleasant ride.  Arriving at the Lisbon Oriente station, we were overwhelmed by its size and modern architecture which was designed by Santiago Calatrava in 1998 for the Lisbon Expo. It took some time to find our way to the suburban trains where we could pick up a 50-minute ride to Sintra.  This involved querying multiple food stall attendants before we found one who spoke English.

We found the kiosk to purchase the Navegante Card, which is Lisbon’s all-encompassing transit card that we could use to pay the fares to travel to/from Sintra, as well as all around Lisbon on supported modes of transportation.  These include metro, buses, trams, funiculars, elevators, ferries and cable cars for traversing within Lisbon, as well as suburban trains that travel to nearby municipalities like Sintra.  The most economical way to use the Navegante card is not to buy ride tickets but rather, to pre-load funds and use what they call “zapping”.   The cost to buy individual tickets per ride is more expensive than zapping, and sometimes even double the price!  The card itself costs 0.50 Euros and you can load a minimum of 3 Euros up to a maximum of 40 Euros at a time. While planning our stays in Sintra and Lisbon, we pre-calculated the number of rides that we planned to take and loaded enough funds to cover this.  We knew that if we ended up taking extra rides (which we did), we could always top up our funds at any metro station.  When riding on the Lisbon metro and suburban train system, the cost of the ride depends on the distance you travel and the number of zones that you cross.  You tap in when entering the system and the final cost is determined when you tap out to leave. With zapping, the one-way cost to travel between Lisbon and Sintra is currently around 2 Euros. The Navegante kiosk was a bit confusing and we felt pressured by the long lineups so again, we relied on the kindness of strangers to help us load zapping funds onto our cards.

We had to be careful to exit at the last stop which is the Sintra Suburban Train Station (a few blocks from our accommodations) as opposed to the previous stop, the Portela Sintra bus depot, which is considerably further away.  While in Sintra for three days, we would be visiting the Old Town and five palaces.  Several of the palaces including National Palace, Quinta da Regaleira and Moorish Castle were within walking distance of our rental, albeit often traversing over steep, cobblestone-paved terrain.  The other two palaces, Pena Palace and Monserrate Palace, were too far to walk to, so we investigated options of bus vs taxi.  The bus would be less expensive but service started too late and the route would take much longer, so we opted for taxi which we could pick up in front of the train station.

Getting off the train from Lisbon, we were impressed with how beautiful the Sintra Train Station is.  Opened in 1887, the station is decorated with ornate azulejo tiles on the platforms, lobby and front façade.   Sintra is the terminus station for multiple train routes originating from Lisbon, including Oriente, the main rail hub in Lisbon, and Rossio station found in central Lisbon where we would head for on our last leg of our trip.  A tourist office resides within the train station to provide guidance for arriving travelers. The historic town centre is a 10-minute walk from here and taxis line the road, waiting to take tourists further afield towards the palaces.

The Guest House Villa dos Poetas is a 5-star bed and breakfast/apartment rental conveniently located 6 minutes away from the Sintra Train Station.  To get there, it did involve pulling our suitcase slightly uphill over rickety cobblestones on the road while dodging traffic, as there was not much of a sidewalk to speak of.  Because we wanted an early start each day, instead of choosing a room in the main house where breakfast was offered starting at 8:30am, we chose a self-contained apartment that included a kitchen so that we better control our timing in the morning.  We found a nearby grocery store where we picked up some fruit, cheese and cold cuts which we planned to supplement with any treats that we might find when we visited the old town.

After we checked into our apartment and dropped off our luggage, we began our exploration of Sintra.  We started by wandering along Volta do Duche, a 1.5km road that follows the edge of a wooded hillside with the Anjo Teixeira Museum nestled in the valley below.  Founded in 1976, the museum is dedicated to the works of sculptors Artur Anjos Teixeira and his son Pedro Augusto Anjos Teixeira. Unfortunately, we had not scheduled time to visit it. Leading towards the town centre, Volta do Duche is lined with eclectic sculptural works that form a delightful outdoor sculpture park.  A few of them may be an extension of the collection found in the museum.  Other sculptures on display are by local, contemporary sculptors and rotate on a regular basis.  During a “Living Statues” festival (Festival de Estátuas Vivas de Sintra) later in the fall, street performers would pose as sculptures and come to life when approached.  That would have been fun to see.

Among the permanent sculptures found on this street is an elaborate statue dedicated to Dr. Gregório Rafael da Silva d'Almeida (1854-1920) that sits in the middle of a large floral display. A bronze bust of the doctor sits on top of a granite pedestal engraved with words that translate to “Homage from the people of this land”.  At the base of the pedestal are the figures of possibly a mother and child looking at a book. There is nothing found on the internet that lists the doctor’s accomplishments, but he must have been important to the area to warrant such a monument.  In addition to the sculptures, street vendors line the path selling traditional Portuguese souvenirs including hand-painted tiles.  I was tempted by the stylized depictions of chickens including the national emblem of the black rooster with red comb and decorated body that is seen all over Portugal.  We also passed by an ornate Moorish Fountain and the entrance to Liberty Park (Parque da Liberdade).

At the end of Volta do Duche, we reached the Sintra Town Hall.  Completed in 1909, the town hall was designed in Romantic and Neo-Manueline styles that makes it look like a Disney fairytale castle. The building includes a massive clock tower with a prominent centre spire covered by glazed tiles that form a blue and white pattern which encircles depictions of the Portuguese coat of arms.  At the top of the spire is an armillary sphere which is an ancient astronomical symbol composed of an interlocking of rings.  In Manueline style, elaborate stonework carvings resembling twisted rope patterns surround the window frames and archways above the upper balcony.  An ornate Manueline-styled fountain with protruding sea monster designs stands in front of the town hall.  Sintra’s old town is made up of a central square and some narrow cobblestone alleyways where restaurants, pastry shops, bars and souvenir shops can be found.  Continuing the nata tour that he started in Porto, Rich sampled some more natas at the historic bakery Casa Piriquita that was founded in 1862.  We also bought a few pastries to take back to our apartment to have as dessert after dinner.

The Sintra National Palace is located right in the centre of the Old Town and was the original site of a medieval royal residence for Moorish governors dating back to the 9th Century.   The palace was continually renovated and added to over the centuries and now includes a blend of architectural styles including Medieval, Gothic, Manueline, Renaissance, Romantic and Mudéjar (Muslim).  Notable kings that inhabited the palace included King João I (1356-1433) and King Manuel I (1469-1521), who each made major architectural additions to the palace to create their own living spaces.  Of the five major palaces in Sintra, National Palace is probably the least popular to tourists and often skipped by people only visiting for a day or two.  Since we had three full days in Sintra, we decided to add it to our itinerary, and are we ever glad we did.  Although the exterior façade of this palace is not as impressive or ostentatious as some of the others, the interior is stunningly decorated and well preserved, making it one of the few originally Medieval palaces in the world that remains mostly intact.  Two large white conical structures rise up from the top of the palace, making it easily identifiable from afar.  We would learn what these were for during our self-guided tour of the palace.  From the balcony leading to the main entrance, we could look back through the palace’s arcade arches and see great views of Sintra and its surrounding forests.  In retrospect, the National Palace was one of our favourite sites to visit in Sintra in part because it was less crowded so we could enjoy it leisurely.

Upon entering the palace, we ascended a spiral staircase that was built in the 16th century and considered one of the “first monumental staircases built in Portugal”.  At the top of the stairs, we came to the Entrance Hall that was used to connect the two palaces built by Kings João I and Manuel I.  The Manueline Hall (Sala Manuelina) is the main hall of Royal Residence built by King Manuel I at the beginning of 16th century. Like the Town Hall, it is decorated in the Manueline architectural style which was named after the king.  This is most obvious in the gorgeous, curved entranceways which are decorated with the maritime-themed stone carvings including knotted ropes, seashells and floral motifs plus the Portuguese coat of arms.  The room itself is noted for its high vaulted ceilings, enormous chandelier, Moorish-influenced Mudéjar wall tile designs and a fireplace with an ornate mirror hanging above it.  This room was changed significantly during the reign of King Luis I in the 19th century but restored to its original design during the Estado Novo dictatorship of the 1930s, as an “exercise in nationalistic and imperialist propaganda”.

Next, we visited a series of rooms that were most recently restored to reflect the décor and furnishings of the late 19th century, when Queen Maria Pia of Savoy lived there.  An Italian princess who married King Luis I in 1862, Luis I (1861-1889)  and Maria Pia became the last monarchs to inhabit the palace.  The Queen’s apartments included a bedroom, covered gallery or balcony, dressing room and toilet room, sitting room, bathroom and wardrobe.  A few elements in the bedroom were initially designed for the previous monarch Pedro V (1837-1861) and Queen Stephanie.  A shield with the monogram “PS” is visible on the ceiling.   Queen Maria Pia’s bathroom was quite modern for its time with various bath basins with hot and cold taps and a striking window featuring multi-coloured glass. A private sitting room was used by the queen to work, rest and receive visits from her inner circle.

While the Manueline Room was the Great Hall for King Manuel I, the Renaissance-styled Great Hall for King João I and Philippa of Lancaster is currently known as the “Swan Room” because of the painted ceiling with 27 wooden panels of white swans in different poses. It was built in the early 15th Century as part of major building renovations. The swan with a crown was an emblem representing Phillipa’s father King Henry IV of England and was used through to the 19th century for banquets, musical concerts, public receptions, and religious and funeral ceremonies.  Another grand room with an intriguing ceiling is known as the “Magpie Room” which was used to receive foreign dignitaries and ambassadors.  The painting of 136 magpies holding dates back to the 15th century.  Each magpie holds the banner of King João I in its beak and grasps a rose in its claws that may refer to Queen Philippa’s House of Lancaster.  Legend has it that King João I was caught kissing one of Phillipa’s ladies-in-waiting resulting in widespread gossip and chatter, like chattering magpies.  To remind the court of their duty to maintain discretion, the king had the ceiling painted with 136 magpies, one for each woman in court at the time.  I think the magpies would just remind Phillipa of his indiscretion!

Built on the orders of King João III (1502-1557), the Galleys Room connected his chambers to the northwest wing of the palace. It’s distinctive domed ceiling dates back to the 17th to 18th centuries and looks like the hull of a ship, decorated with seascapes depicting low, flat ships flying the flags of the Ottomans, Dutch, and Portuguese, who were the major naval powers of the period.  These types of ships were called galleys, as reflected in the name of the room.  From windows in the corridors are scenic views of the Sintra hillside as well as the various gardens in the Palace with exotic trees and manicured shrubbery.

The room known as the Gold Chamber was where sovereigns such as Queen Catarina of Austria would stay when visiting the National Palace, surrounded by servants or close family members.  The gold leaf that once adorned this room has since been lost.  Today the room includes a 17th century bed with a crimson canopy and a magnificent headboard decorated with medallions displaying mythological scenes.  The nearby Wardrobe Room, also called the “Mermaid Room” because of its marine-themed decorations depicting mermaids on the ceiling, was used to store clothes, jewelry, silver, ceramics and other ceremonial items.

Like the Wardrobe, the Camarim Room was used to store objects of splendour including tapestries, paintings, a Spanish cabinet with ivory and tortoise-shell inlay, Chinese porcelain and chests made from teak, lacquer, ebony and ivory. A celestial sphere dating back to 1575 displays constellations and zodiac signs. It reflects what was “known” about the Universe at the time and is the oldest globe in Portugal.

The most impressive room in the palace is the Heraldry Room or “Coat of Arms” Room which serves as an allegory for King Manuel I's centralised power.  The walls are covered with 18th century blue and white azulejos tiles depicting bucolic and hunting scenes as well as what looks like images of the four seasons.  At the centre of the octagonal domed ceiling is the King’s royal coat of arms topped with a gilded winged serpent.  Surrounding this are the coats of arms of King Manuel I’s eight children. The next ring includes shields with eight majestic stags with white striped antlers symbolizing the nobility’s love of hunting.  The final rings feature 72 coats of arms of the prominent Portuguese noble families.  An inscription circling the room pays tribute to the loyal service of the families.

King João I organized his rooms around an open-air Central Courtyard which is adorned with Moorish tiles and features an Islamic-styled water pool, Renaissance columns and a water fountain consisting of twisted Manueline columns topped with small nude figures holding the Portuguese coat of arms.  A rare geometrical trompe-l’oeil fresco from the reign of King Manuel I was recently discovered during restorations of the patio.  From the courtyard, we got a close-up view of the conical stacks that we initially saw from afar.  When we next entered the kitchen, we finally found what they were used for.  These were two 33-metre-high chimneys used for ventilating the large kitchen where food was prepared to feed the entire court comprised of several hundred people.  The kitchen had multiple hearths, two ovens, a metal food warmer and roasting spits.

Returning back out in the central courtyard, we inspected a 16th Century Water Grotto located in a shady area protected from the sun with water jets that squirt from tiny holes in the wall.  The exterior of the grotto has a Moorish feel.  The interior was redecorated in the 18th Century with blue and white tiles on the walls depicting angels and floral designs and a stucco ceiling depicting the creation of the world, the four seasons and mythological themes.

The Chapel was originally built in the 13th century under King Dinis but altered multiple times with the last alterations happening in the 18th and 19th centuries.  The Chapel has a stunning Mudéjar-styled carved wooden ceiling with latticework made of geometrical elements that form radial and star compositions.  The ceramic floor uses an ancient “alicatado” technique using mosaic formed of polygonal glazed tiles to create multi-coloured geometric patterns. The walls are painted in patterned squares depicting the Holy spirit descending as a dove. With access to the Chapel, the Anteroom of the Council Chamber (also known as the Arab Room) was a waiting room outside the judges’ or councillors meeting chamber.  The current decoration from the Manueline period integrates several tile techniques. The centrepiece of the room is an ornate fountain consisting of a white marble basin surrounded by colourful ceramic tiles with a bronze sculpture featuring mythological sea creatures that spout water emerging from the centre.

The actual Council Chamber was where meetings occurred between judges of the House of Supplication, and later the King’s advisers.  The room has been redecorated to represent the elements that would probably have been present, including a long table and different chairs to represent various social statuses, textiles, writing materials and a bell to summon the doorkeeper.  Finally, we saw the Prison Room where King Afonso VI was kept prisoner for 9 years by his younger brother Pedro (later King Pedro II) after a coup where Afonso was deposed and deemed mentally unfit.  Throughout his imprisonment, Afonso was kept isolated and guarded by 300 soldiers.  His was the only room in the palace where the windows were secured with iron bars.

It took us several hours to tour all the wonderful rooms in the National Palace that were full of history and beautiful architectural details and furnishings.  At the end of it, we were ready for dinner.  We selected Incomum, a highly rated, contemporary restaurant near the Sintra Train station that features a variety of innovative dishes designed by chef Luís Santos.  We did not have a reservation and the restaurant was full but luckily, we scored the last table outside.  As it was a chilly evening, the waiter helpfully provided me with a blanket.  We started with a flavourful sheep’s cheese lightly browned and sprinkled with oregano served with bread.  For main courses, I had sauteed scallops with a passion fruit risotto topped with green beans while Rich had Ibernia pork filet mignon on a bed of spinach served with clams over polenta.  The meal was so good that we made reservations to return two nights later.  We had bought some desserts from Piriquita so we went back to the apartment to enjoy them.

This was a long and eventful first day in Sintra and we still had two more days and four more palaces to visit.