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The National Palace of Sintra is one of Portugal's most frequently visited monuments - and for good reason. The palace at Sintra is one of the most famous royal residences of medieval Europe; it is also one of the most well-preserved. Parts remain of the mid-fourteenth-century palace -including significant buildings commissioned by Dom Joao I - as do the successive additions made to it in the fifteenth century, during the reigns of Dom Duarteand Dom Afonso V.
But it was the reign of Dom Manuel that brought the most magnificent extensions to the palace, and its present layout is due in large measure to the work of this king. Dom Manuel, continuing a longstanding tradition of his ancestors, paid particular attention to what was known as the 'Luso-Moorish' style, referred to in the language of art history as Mudejar art. It is this Mudejar spirit that puts the palace at Sintra in a class of its own as a building, forthe structure contains innumerable evocations of Arab architecture. These are found in the arrangement of the spaces, the inclusion of interior courtyards, the ubiquitous presence of water-forming mirrors, fountains and jets-and of course the great panels of geometric glazed tiles that line its walls.
It is the interplay of intimacy and the representation of power (so clearly stated in the imposing Sala dos Brasoes), and the skilful combination of'interior' and 'exterior' that make the National Palace of Sintra one of the most original examples of the private architecture of royalty. On days when Sintra is not foggy and humid, the conical chimneys of the palace stand out in dazzling contrast against a clear, deep blue sky. They indicate the work of humankind amidst a range of hills that was described by the poet and dramatist Gil Vicente as a true 'garden of Earthly Paradise'.
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The National Monument of Mafra comprises the Basilica, the one-time Convent and the former Royal Palace. Together they form a single edifice so gigantic that it is rightly considered to be one of Europe's largest historic monuments.
This towering heap of stone which resisted the terrible 1755 earthquake, consists of 2 contiguous different sized bodies covering an area of 4 hectares.
In the main body we have the Basilica, sacristy and vestry, the 2 bell towers the Royal Palace with its 2 turrets. «Casa da Fazenda», sick wards, «Casa do Capitulo», «Sala dos Actos», the ante chamber to the friars' Refectory and the Refectory itself, the Cemetery chapel and the 2 cloisters.
The minor body comprises the best part of the Convent, kitchens, library, the box tree garden and a small part of the Palace on the top floor.
The Monument has altogether 4 facades. The main one faces west, is 232 meters long and terminates on either side with 2 magnificent turrets. Both, north and south facades are 209 meters long and the east facade is 171.
The immensity of the building can be seen by its 880 halls and rooms, 300 cells, 4500 doors and windows, 154 staircases and 29 patios.
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Pena National Palace is one of Portugal's most symbolic monuments. A pioneer in Europe of the architectural forms that were to be developed by in tie sensibility, this palace is a splendid repository of eras and tastes, combined and reconstituted at the behest of a man to whom Portugal's heritage owes a great deal: Dom Fernando II.
As a matter of fact, Dom Fernando II - who came to be known as the Artist-King - as well as a collector, designer and ceramicist, took a greater interest than almost anyone in the architectural legacy he found in Portugal, promoting and sponsoring conservation and restoration work on the most important Portuguese monuments. Pena Palace is also itself, in some ways, a homage to this heritage from different eras, combining in a labyrinthine and multifaceted and occasionally enigmatic space, an impressive range of morphological allusions, from gothic to rocaille, passing through the exotic styles which, at the time, enchanted all those who were fighting for the aesthetic revival of Romanticism.
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Among the memorable buildings to be admired in Sintra, the Palace of Seteais is without doubt a distinctive architectural construction. From among the examples of traditional indigenous architecture, the scholarship of the Sixteenth or Eighteenth Centuries, and the neo-whatever fancies of Romanticism, the classicism of the Palace of Seteais provides the serenity one seeks.
From a historical point of view, the building provides the best example of the neo-classical style in Sintra, and is the high point for this region of the fruitful Eighteenth Century. Started on July 25th 1787, it only attained in 1802 the structure which we see nowadays. Within the modest history of this monument one finds figures from the mists of time who have demonstrated a particular regard for this region, and the desire to create an estate worthy of the landscape which surrounds it. The Dutchman Daniel Gildemeester, a native of Utrecht, Consul in Lisbon and the Low Countries, and a prominent businessman favored by Pombal, was responsible for founding the property on the outstanding vantage-point of the "Campo de Seteais". However, the elegant neo-classical facade and Triumphal Arch which make up what we know today are due to the initiative of the Fifth Marquis of Marialva. D. Diogo.
It was particularly from the middle of the Eighteenth Century onwards that Sintra was to benefit from the overspill of royal building activities at Mafra, and afterwards at Queluz. Moreover, the tragic earthquake on November 1, 1755, which destroyed Lisbon and caused enormous damage in Sintra and Colares, produced a positive result and even an architectural style - later to be known as Pombaline.
There are many estates from the town of Sintra to the coast nestling on hill-tops and located on raised ground, which date from these periods of intense building activity. There was a favorable attitude towards foreign cultural trends, influenced by what was happening in European. English, French and Italian artistic circles, and originating in the families of the capital's wealthy merchants. Doubtless this was helped by the fact that some of the businessmen were foreigners who introduced habits and styles alien to Portuguese culture. But also their favorable reception and business success led them to reinvest their capital in buildings which were very often innovative, introducing new styles of construction and gardening. |
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