Rute Martins
A gate of the Pena National Palace | Paulo
SINTRA, PORTUGAL. It’s a famous and old attraction in greater Lisbon for tourists and locals, but from now on there’s another good excuse to give it a visit: the renovated room of the Pena National Palace with new furniture, walls and pavements, inaugurated this year.
This January, the Portuguese Secretary of Culture, Jorge Barreto Xavier, inaugurated the noble salon of this astonishing palace on top of the hill in Sintra. The room had been renovated for three years in the eyes of all visitors but only now do they have the opportunity to see the results of this continuous effort of putting together new furniture, pavements, stained glass windows, tableware and walls. To do so, chromatic analyses were realized to obtain the original color of the walls and LED lamps were included in the stained glass so it could be observed during night as well.
Pena National Palace now deserves a new visit, not only for its renovated room but also because of the breathtaking surrounding landscape. A must-see for tourists and a great escape for locals on weekends, the palace was built in 1839 by Fernando II around the ruins of an old monastery in XVI century. Considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal, the palace gives you a generous view of Lisbon’s metropolitan area. As such, it is one of the major heritage sites of XIX century Romanticism in the whole world.
With its green surroundings, the palace is a favorite escape for families or couples on those not-so-cold-or-hot days on weekends. The palace presents a rich architecture, mixing styles like Neo-Gothic, Neo-Manueline and Neo-Renaissance characteristics that are typical also of other Portuguese buildings. The surrounding forest includes labyrinth paths, diverse tree species and caves.