Pena National Palace in Sintra, Portugal (Interior Courtyard)

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• published: 27 Oct 2014
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Pena Palace or Castle is the most remarkable monument from the Portuguese Romanticism. It is world heritage by UNESCO since 1995 and is located on the top of the mystic Sintra mountains. It was inspired by the castles from Baviera and built in the 1840's by king Dom Fernando, who handed the work to the German baron von Eschwege. However, Dom Fernando himself introduced elements like the ogival arches, the medieval towers, Arabic elements and a reproduction of convento de Cristo's (in Tomar) chapter. The Palace is surrounded by Pena Park, with over 200 hectares of gardens, ponds, caves and houses. In 1838, King Ferdinand II acquired the former Hieronymite monastery of Our Lady of Pena, which had been built by King Manuel I in 1511 on the top of the hill above Sintra and had been left unoccupied since 1834 when the religious orders were suppressed in Portugal. The monastery consisted of the cloister and its outbuildings, the chapel, the sacristy and the bell tower, which today form the northern section of the Palace of Pena, or the Old Palace as it is known. King Ferdinand began by making repairs to the former monastery, which, according to the historical sources of that time, was in very bad condition. He refurbished the whole of the upper floor, replacing the fourteen cells used by the monks with larger-sized rooms and covering them with the vaulted ceilings that can still be seen today. In roughly 1843, the king decided to enlarge the palace by building a new wing (the New Palace) with even larger rooms (the Great Hall is a good example of this), ending in a circular tower next to the new kitchens. The building work was directed by the Baron of Eschwege. The 1994 repair works restored the original colours of the Palace’s exterior: pink for the former monastery and ochre for the New Palace. In transforming a former monastery into a castle-like residence, King Ferdinand showed that he was heavily influenced by German romanticism, and that he probably found his inspiration in the Stolzenfels and Rheinstein castles on the banks of the Rhine, as well as Babelsberg Palace in Potsdam. These building works at the Palace of Pena ended in the mid-1860s, although further work was also undertaken at later dates for the decoration of the interiors. King Ferdinand also ordered the Park of Pena to be planted in the Palace’s surrounding areas in the style of the romantic gardens of that time, with winding paths, pavilions and stone benches placed at different points along its routes, as well as trees and other plants originating from the four corners of the earth. In this way, the king took advantage of the mild and damp climate of the Sintra hills to create an entirely new and exotic park with over five hundred different species of trees. The most fascinating construction in the Park of Pena is the Chalet of the Countess of Edla, also known as the House of Indulgence (Casa do Regalo), which is located at the park’s western end. Its building was commissioned by King Ferdinand II and his future second wife, Elise Hensler (the Countess of Edla), as a private summer residence. It is a two-storey building with a very scenic appearance, denoting a distinctive alpine inspiration and maintaining an expressive visual relationship with the Palace. The Palace of Pena was designated a National Monument in 1910 and forms part of the Cultural Landscape of Sintra, which has been classified by UNESCO as World Heritage since 1995. In 2013, the Palace was integrated into the Network of European Royal Residences. Pena National Palace in Sintra, Portugal (Interior Courtyard) Palácio Nacional da Pena Sintra, Portugal (Interior Pátio) HD Shot with a Nikon J1