Pena National Palace. Sintra, Portugal.
The best time for visiting the mystical town of Sintra in Portugal is June, because:
- the sky will be blue, the sun will be bright, and there will be no rain, fog, or wind;
- you will be able to take plenty of wonderful shots of the Pena Palace, Quinta da Regaleira, Convent of the Capuchos, and other attractions of Sintra, but every one of these pictures will be typical and overfilled with your colleagues, tourists;
- you will be standing in queues everywhereto take a bus, to buy a ticket, to enter to any cafe, palace, or villa;
- you will constantly be seeking a parking place for your auto, and, chances are, you will not find one on the narrow mountainous streets of Sintra;
The worst time for visiting the mystical town of Sintra in Portugal is January, because:
- the sky can be deep-gray, the sun can be hidden by clouds, it can be rainy, foggy, and windy, BUT…
- there will be no queues anywhere, and almost nobody in buses, cafes, hotels, and nearby attractions;
- you will be able to take really mystical shots of the Pena Palace or the Convent of the Capuchos, from unusual angles, and show them to the readers of your travel blog;
Sure enough, we chose January.
Pena National Palace in fog.
The famous Laurence Hotel of Sintra, once visited by Lord Byron, was empty, and every evening, somebody from the staff asked us, at what time we should like to have our breakfast. Needless to say, we were able to order an individual set of products. Having noticed that after a hard tourist day (all of them were rainy) I liked to sit with my tablet PC near the chimney in the lobby, the staff kindled the fire every evening for the only guest of the hotel and brought me a tray with hot tea and pastries. I felt like Lord Byron.
As I mentioned above, all the days of our stay in Sintra had one thing in common: the rain. The day of our photo session in the Pena Palace also was very suitable for taking completely “unusual” photographs. It was foggy, rainy, and windy. The fog was so thick that the neighboring Moorish fortress was invisible.
In Sintra, King Ferdinand II decided to build a castle which would be no worse than the Neuschwanstein castle (for which Bavarian King Ludwig was killed), and hired an experienced architect…. Stop. The strangest thing about the Pena Palace is the fact that it was built by a dilettante. Different sources call Lieutenant-General and mining engineer Baron Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege an “amateur architect.” In other words, he could not erect buildings, but he always wanted to do it.
After studying in Germany, Baron von Eschwege went to Portugal to work in the mining industry. One time, he even took part in military operations against Napoleon Bonaparte. Then, at the invitation of the Portuguese royal court, he left Portugal for Brazil to establish the local mining industry, and achieved considerable success in it. On returning to Portugal, he received a very unusual proposal: to design and erect the summer royal residence in Sintra near Lisbon. Why? Apparently, Baron von Eschwege was close to the royal family, so we can try to reconstruct the sequence of events.
At a royal dinner, after one or two glasses of port wine, the king said, “Dear Baron, why don’t you build a summer residence for our family in the mountains of Sintra? It could be a real Teutonic castle.”
“Why not?” said the Baron, and went to work on the project. After a while, during one of the royal dinners, he presented plans for the project of the new residence. It was a powerful, brutal, and impregnable Teutonic castle on top of a rock. It had the stern watchtowers with loopholes and was surrounded by high, thick walls. The Baron was very proud of his creation. To build such a castle was his lifetime dream.
The king liked the project; however, after a glass or two of port wine, he said, “Dear Baron, why not decorate our castle with beautiful and mystical window similar to the famous Manueline window in the Convent of the Order of Christ in Tomar?”
“Why not?” said the Baron, and went to Tomar to look at the famous window. After a while, he drew a similar window for his Teutonic castle and showed the sketch to the king during one of the royal dinners.
The king was happy, but the queen (after one or two glasses of port wine, of course) said, “Dear Baron, why not add some Moorish motifs to the decoration of our castle such as those in Cordoba in Spain, and paint the whole residence in different colors?”
“Of course, Your Majesty.” The Baron bowed and went to Spain.
We don’t know how many such dinners had “architects,” but as a result we got the most eclectic and unusual castle in the world—the Pena National Palace in Sintra. When the Pena Palace was completed, people called it kitsch, a little later—high kitsch, and at last—something so kitschy that it was higher than any kitsch.
Manueline window in fog. The Pena Palace. Sintra, Portugal.
Inside of the Pena Palace.
Pena Park in fog.
Can I repeat that Baron von Eschwege was a dilettante in architecture? No! The Pena National Palace was only one building in his life, but if it has already stood for more than 150 years, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal, we can safely call its author a real professional.
At the end of the 20th century, the Pena Palace stood without paint and was gray as a real Teutonic castle, but later the original coloring was restored. I didn’t find the photographs with the “gray” look of the palace, so I tried to imagine it with the help of PhotoShop. You can compare with the first image of this post.
Pena National Palace without painting.
More about Portugal:
Convent of the Capuchos: a Souvenir in the Forest
Castles of the Knights Templar in Portugal’s History
Quinta da Regaleira as My Internal World in Sintra
January 5, 2015 at 9:00 am
Wow i love your photography! i posted some of mine on my little secret post you could maybe check out?
Also I really enjoyed reading this!! Well written!!
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January 5, 2015 at 9:08 am
Thank you, Beth.
I am sure your blog has a big future. Good luck in blogging.
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January 5, 2015 at 9:46 am
We loved this place. Gorgeous captures of it Victor. Happy New Year!
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January 5, 2015 at 10:16 am
Thank you, Sue.
Happy New Year!
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January 5, 2015 at 9:55 am
Wow… amazing shots… pretty good decision to visit it in January :)!
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January 5, 2015 at 10:17 am
… and original.
Thank you.
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January 5, 2015 at 10:12 am
The damp weather did not spoil your photography Victor!
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January 5, 2015 at 10:20 am
Thank you, Andrew.
Irina is very proud, because the most of these photos is hers.
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January 5, 2015 at 10:52 am
The fog makes everything look mystical and mysterious! I love it!
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January 5, 2015 at 12:56 pm
I see you understand us, Amanda.
Thank you.
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January 5, 2015 at 11:02 am
Looks well worth a visit in the January rain!
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January 5, 2015 at 12:59 pm
Take waterproof shoes and closes with you, Susan.
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January 5, 2015 at 1:39 pm
D
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January 5, 2015 at 12:32 pm
Spectacular! I love the mood the fog adds to the pictures.
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January 5, 2015 at 1:02 pm
I am glad that we were freezing there not in vain.
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January 5, 2015 at 1:18 pm
These are fantastic photos, Victor. And what a castle to photograph. The mist helps to make it more mysterious. Just imagine how it must have felt to the knights of the day when they rode up to the castle in that mist and they had all those superstitions in their head. Great post!
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January 5, 2015 at 1:27 pm
I think they felt the same – admiration and respect for the architect.
But something tells me that Baron von Eschwege wanted to build a gray castle as it is on the last picture.
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January 5, 2015 at 2:04 pm
We visited Sintra a few years ago in May. We chose a weekday and took the train from Lisbon and then a bus from the station to the castle. It was a nice day and it was not crowded and the train ride was comfortable and only about a half an hour. But then we didn’t get those beautiful misty photos that you did!
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January 5, 2015 at 8:15 pm
Hm. It seems like you were lucky.
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January 6, 2015 at 5:53 am
Your photos are beautiful, the rain and mist add atmosphere.
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January 7, 2015 at 8:52 am
Thank you, Debra.
The most important our helper there was a cognac which saved our health. 🙂
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January 6, 2015 at 8:27 am
I really like the rain and fog images of the palace. It really is in one spectacular location. Your photographs are always an inspiration in many ways, from how you take them to where you take them. You can really transport a person to these places.
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January 7, 2015 at 8:56 am
I am very glad, Donna. Thanks a lot.
There thousands “sunny” pictures of the Pena Palace in the Internet. Ours will be, at least, original.
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January 9, 2015 at 2:44 am
I HAVE been to Sintra in June…….but I think I like it better in January based on your fabulous pictures! GOSH! Mystical for sure! Lovely shots!!!
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January 9, 2015 at 2:56 pm
Thank you, Diana. At least, you will be able to compare.
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January 10, 2015 at 11:29 am
Beautiful place superb images
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January 10, 2015 at 11:52 am
Thanks a lot, Natasha.
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February 27, 2015 at 8:44 pm
I like your sense of humor! I think that you can always find the best in a situation – and rain won’t stop you from taking awesome photos. Love the mystical and mysterious mood that you achieved with your photographs. We went in early May, there were very few tourists and we loved Sintra. Your photos have reminded me of a very special holiday. Thanks!
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February 27, 2015 at 11:19 pm
I don’t like rainy weather, but what to do–sometimes, rain makes wonders with landscapes, buildings, and people.
Thank you.
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March 1, 2015 at 3:33 am
These are absolutely beautiful!!
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March 1, 2015 at 5:34 am
Thank you, Michael.
But the weather was much more worse than on your Franz Josef Glacier: http://michaelevansphotographerblog.com/2015/02/27/heli-hike-to-franz-josef-glacier/ You took wonderful photos there.
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March 20, 2015 at 2:49 am
Wow! This looks like in a fairy tale! And i disagree – i find the fog so much more beautiful! 😉 i’d go in january lol
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March 20, 2015 at 4:24 am
At least, the images are original.
Thank you.
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August 9, 2016 at 6:14 am
Love the photos.
Actually you got it right going in January. We’re in Lisbon right now (August) and though of going to Sintra – but yesterday had diner with some fellow bloggers who told us of their horrible day trying to get into Sintra: 30 min to get a train ticket, 30 to get a bus ticket, 90 min for the bus to navigate the 2 km from the train station to the castle. Then an hour in line, only to be told that this line didn’t accept credit cards and that they would have to get into another line. They said “screw it” and came back to Lisbon. Can you imagine? And all this waiting in the hot sun, it’s 35C + these days in Lisbon.
I came to Sintra 25 years and love walking the walls and seeing the Pena palace. But I think we’ll do just like you: come back sometime in the winter.
Frank (bbqboy)
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August 9, 2016 at 1:55 pm
Thank you, Frank.
Probably, if your friends had read this post, they would have been more careful in choosing the time of visit. After some years of travels around Europe, I understood that the worst time for such travels is summer, unfortunately.
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June 20, 2017 at 1:32 am
Fabulous photography. I visited in the fog too, some years back. Very atmospheric !!!
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June 20, 2017 at 5:31 am
Thank you, Judith.
Famous places of the world look like so unusual, when weather is unusual.
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April 23, 2018 at 2:45 pm
In a month I’m gonna take my sixth visit to Pena (and other nearby parts of Lisbon and Sintra as well) – this time I’ll follow your thoughts about it and we will load ourselves with plenty of vinho verde ( some kind of substitute to prosecco) before visit – so we can imagine how this could look like between these creators. Love your blog!!!!
Rita
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April 23, 2018 at 11:32 pm
Sixth?! It seems like Portugal keeps the first place in your list of destinations. I understand you. I have been there only once, but I want more.
Thank you for the comment, Rita.
Happy journey.
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