Tourism

Parque da Liberdade

Parque da Liberdade, which was initially part of the Valenças Palace property, is above all a hymn to romanticism. Its biological richness, characterized by essentially natural development, is combined with an aesthetic that allows for a diverse number of ecological niches, increasing biodiversity. There are over 410 plants identified in the park, distributed across 60 different species. It is an enchanted garden of trees and flowers, with stone benches for peaceful strolling and contemplation.

Cadeia Comarcã

The District Prison, like the Town Hall building, was designed by the architect Adães Bermudes, as a result of a series of improvements made to public buildings in Sintra at the beginning of the 20th century. The decision to build a new prison was made in 1894 because the previous prison did not offer dignified conditions for the inmates. With the appearance of a medieval fortress, the building, erected on the site of the former São Sebastião cemetery, is developed from a centralized hexagonal plan. It functioned as a prison for sixty years.

Museu Anjos Teixeira

As you wander through the rooms of the Anjos Teixeira Museum, you will discover models and mock-ups of many of the works that adorn and adorn the squares, streets, buildings, institutions and avenues of Portugal, resulting in added value and greater proximity between the visitor and the various collections on display (sculpture, drawing, medals, painting, correspondence and photography).

Pisões Waterfall

No one can fail to be fascinated by this delicate and romantic Cascata dos Pisões, which many tend to confuse with the historic Fonte dos Amores. Legend has it that in the past, the waters ran freely down the mountain, being used at the Quinta dos Pisões, where watermills used it to tread flax. The land on which it is built belonged to the Marquis of Pombal and was acquired by his protégé, Daniel de Gildemeester, the Dutch consul in Portugal and a diamond merchant, who decided to erect the waterfall there. That greenery, that stonework imitating steep natural rocks, that moss on the old walls that flank it, and finally that water trickling into the small rocky lake, take us back to the phrase of Eça de Queirós: "Sintra is this: a little water, a bit of moss: this is a paradise."  

Hotel Lawrence

Born in 1764, under the name Estalagem dos Cavaleiros (Knights’ Inn), this building was acquired in the 19th century by Lewis Lawrence, who established the oldest hotel in the Iberian Peninsula there. A charming establishment, it hosted figures of great international renown, including the English poet Lord Byron; William Beckford, a cultured English aristocrat; as well as, more recently, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. The Lawrence was also the setting for part of the book Os Maias, a novel by the Portuguese writer Eça de Queiroz. Today, although expanded, the building maintains the same design and function.

Palácio Valenças

The Palace of Valenças, or the Duche’s Palace as it was initially called, was built in the second half of the 19th century by the Lisbon merchant António Ferreira dos Anjos. The Italian architect and set designer Giuseppe Cinatti was chosen for the project. The palace changed its name when Luís Leite Pereira Jardim, 1st Count of Valenças, married Guilhermina Anjos, heiress of António Ferreira dos Anjos, and it became known simply as Valenças. After his death, the property was sold to the Sintra Municipal Council. Today, the Municipal Assembly meets in the building’s "Sala da Nau" (Ship Room).  

Paços do Concelho de Sintra

The Town Hall building is strategically located between the two neighborhoods of Sintra (Vila Velha and Vila Nova da Estefânia). Its construction in this location marked the relocation of the administrative center, housed in an eighteenth-century building near the Royal Palace, to a more modern area. Designed by architect Adães Bermudes, it was built between 1906 and 1908, where the Manueline chapel of St. Sebastian previously stood. The facades are enlivened by Neo-Manueline windows and an imposing tile-covered pyramidal tower decorated with the cross of Christ and the national coat of arms, culminating in the armillary sphere at the top.

Fonte da Pipa

The oldest reference to the Fonte da Pipa (Pipa Fountain) is found in a document from 1369; however, the current image of the fountain was created in the 18th century, when it underwent a campaign of improvements commissioned by Queen Maria I. The monarch, having learned that the water was being diverted to the Ribafria Palace by the Marquis of Pombal, ordered the fountain to be rebuilt to restore the water to the population, as evidenced by the engraving on the back wall and the royal coat of arms. On the façade, of great monumentality and aesthetic quality, there are four tile panels depicting the goddess Cynthia or Diana, with water and the hunt associated with her, and to the right, Justice with the scales. The basin, also made of stone, is irrigated by water that flows from a small spout in the shape of a pipe.

Paço dos Ribafria

The Palace was built in the 1530s near the royal palace by Gaspar Gonçalves, a man of humble origins who amassed a considerable fortune and achieved ennoblement. The Ribafria family held the important position of chief magistrate of Sintra for several generations, and the palace remained in the family until the 18th century, later passing into the possession of the Marquis of Pombal. During this period, new elements were introduced into the 16th-century structure, especially on the exterior, such as sash windows. Since that time, no significant alterations have been made to its structure.

Miradouro da Correnteza

The arrival of the railway in Sintra brought major changes to the town’s urban planning. The street where the cluster of houses that had been built to house the engineers of the Larmanjat monorail was located was widened, and, taking advantage of the view of the Raposa Valley, Captain Mário Alberto Soares Pimentel developed one of the town’s most iconic urban developments. This avenue features a monument dedicated to the Portuguese soldiers who died in the Great War, designed by sculptor José da Fonseca.

Casa Piriquita – Travesseiros e Queijadas de Sintra

Casa Piriquita is a pastry shop known for its Travesseiros and Queijadas. Founded as a bakery in 1862, it acquired the name Piriquita due to the nickname King D. Carlos gave to its owner, Constância Gomes, based on her short stature. It was the monarch who encouraged the couple to make the famous queijadas; the success was immediate, and the bakery transformed into a pastry shop. In the 1940s, Constância Luísa Cunha, the founder’s daughter, created the Travesseiro, a pastry filled with egg custard and with an almond touch. Throughout these 160 years, the pastry shop has remained in the family, who proudly guard the secret of their sweets.   Accessibility: Partially accessible to people with reduced/conditioned mobility, only at the takeaway counter (no adapted restrooms)

Igreja de S. Martinho

The Church of São Martinho in Sintra was commissioned by Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal, between 1147 and 1154, following the Christian reconquest. The building, initially Romanesque, underwent alterations during various reigns, acquiring some Gothic features. In 1755, following the Lisbon earthquake, the church collapsed and was rebuilt between 1755 and 1773. The reconstruction, entrusted to the architect Mateus Vicente de Oliveira, resulted in a building with an austere façade featuring a narthex, in the Pombaline style. The temple has an interior decorated with murals and an important set of panels representing the Passion of Christ. Also noteworthy are the 16th-century works representing St. Peter and St. Martin, attributed to the masters Cristóvão de Figueiredo, Gregório Lopes, and Garcia Fernandes. In one of the wings attached to the temple, we can find a remarkable collection of sacred art pieces, organized in a small museum space.

Volta do Duche

Built in 1922, with a design by Master José da Fonseca, the Moorish fountain was constructed with the intention of enhancing the entrance to the town and "dignifying the most prized water of Sintra". The widening of the road in 1960 forced the dismantling of the fountain, which was rebuilt 20 years later, not in its original location, but in the heart of Volta do Duche. The revivalist architecture of the fountain features a large arch, in which three other arches are topped by Neo-Moorish tiles, with the municipal coat of arms prominently displayed in the center.

Igreja da Misericórdia (Church of Mercy)

The exact date of the founding of Sintra’s first charitable institution is unknown, but it is suggested that it dates back to the 14th century.However, there is no doubt about the establishment of the Hospital de Santo Espírito—predating the founding of the Misericórdia—which dates back to the reign of King Ferdinand, as does the construction of the first church.The church dedicated to Mariana is currently reduced to only its chancel and side altars, as the nave and other outbuildings were demolished with the establishment of the Republic to widen the public thoroughfare.