Tourism

Municipal Library of Sintra – Casa Mantero

A public library operating according to the latest trends in library science.It is located in Correnteza, on a property dating back to the 19th century and acquired by the local government in very poor condition in the 1970s.From the house’s balcony, you can enjoy magnificent views of the Castelo dos Mouros and Vale da Raposa.

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.

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.

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.

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."  

Padaria Saloia

A dream that feeds generations. The pão com chouriço (bread with chorizo) from Padaria Saloia first stood out in street vending fifty years ago, after an invitation from the Nossa Senhora do Cabo Festivities Committee. For almost half a century, the product’s success and recognition grew through street vending, so much so that, after that first invitation, its presence at fairs around Sintra multiplied. Cherished for years, the dream became a reality, and in 2021, Salomé Patrão and Horácio Patrão opened Padaria Saloia, a space located on one of Sintra’s busiest streets.

Largo do Palácio/ Serra

In front of the Town Hall building stands a fountain, in the same Neo-Manueline style, designed by architect Tertuliano Lacerda Marques and sculpted by José da Fonseca. Inaugurated in 1914, it rests on a plinth that supports the carved basin from which, in the center, a large shaft with vegetal lacework and a bronze spout representing a fish emerges. At the top, the fountain is crowned by the Cross of Christ, which surmounts the armillary sphere surrounded by four shields, where the municipal coat of arms alternates with a pelican bearing the legend "Pola Lei e Pola Grei" engraved in Gothic characters.

Mercado Estefânia

Once a bullring (with references to a major bullfight in July 1893), this is now the location of the Estefânia Municipal Market. As part of the surrounding rural area, Sintra supplied the capital with fruits and vegetables sold in markets, fairs, or even on the streets of Lisbon. Sometimes city dwellers would go to Sintra to get supplies at the Mercês and São Pedro fairs, and other times the farmers would take them to the city. Besides strawberries, wild fruits, pink peaches, brown pears, and Reineta apples were also a delight for connoisseurs. The Reineta Apple still remains in the region of orchards spread throughout the municipality, with a greater concentration in Fontanelas. The orchards of Colares were famous, which gave the name to Praia das Maçãs (Apple Beach), reportedly because the river that flowed there passed between the orchards and carried the fallen apples in its waters to the beach. Currently, there is also a food court in this space, offering visitors a more attractive experience.

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.

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.

Museu Ferreira de Castro

This museum space explores the life of Ferreira de Castro, one of the most translated Portuguese writers, whose most famous novel is *A Selva*. The writer was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by international bodies. Here, visitors can appreciate rare editions, manuscripts, personal objects, and original illustrations for his works, among other objects belonging to and closely connected to the author.

Celeiro da Jugada

In Largo Latino Coelho, we see some remains of the old Celeiro da Jugada, where the tribute paid in grain to the crown was paid and stored. It was also here that the sacred art removed from the churches of Sintra after the abolition of religious orders in 1834 was sold.

Edifício dos correios/ Torre do Relógio

The current post office building served as the Town Hall and County Jail. From the outset, it housed a public clock that kept time for the town, an unusual feature for a small rural settlement living in the shadow of the royal palace. The structure we know today was probably built in the second half of the 18th century, on the initiative of the Marquis of Pombal, inspired by the church towers of the rest of the municipality of Sintra. If a tower had existed in an earlier period, it would certainly have been severely damaged in the 1755 earthquake.

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.