Pena National Palace

The Pena National Palace ( German National Palace Pena or grief Palace) is a castle in the Portuguese town of Sintra. It was built after 1840 at the behest of the Portuguese Titularkönigs and King consort Ferdinand II of Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege on the ruins of a monastery. It is due to its eclectic architectural style as the Neuschwanstein Portugal.

The castle is located on a summit of the Serra de Sintra, a mountain range west of Lisbon. Under the reign of King John II, a monastery of the Hieronymitenordens was built on the site. Under Manuel I, it was remodeled in the style of Manueline. 1755 destroyed the devastating Lisbon earthquake of large parts of the building. The monastery was abandoned and fell into disrepair.

Ferdinand II, who had geehelicht 1836 Queen Mary II of England, was so impressed by the area around Sintra that he 1837 the ruined monastery, together with some surrounding farms and a nearby old Moorish fortress, the Castle of the Moors, bought up. He wanted to leave the monastery a rise, but also build a new summer residence for the Portuguese royal family. Since the 14th century the Portuguese kings spent the summer in the near Palácio Nacional de Sintra.

The Palácio de Pena is a fairytale castle that combines various architectural styles historicizing in such a reckless and quite sugary manner with each other, that it is greatly disliked among art historians. Coexistence can be found Neo-Renaissance, Neo-Gothic, Neo - Manueline and Moorish elements. Inside can be found on Baroque and Rococo stucco reminiscent ensembles, a monumental Triton and trompe l'oeil paintings. The parks around the Castle should be a classic English garden originally, but are similar visionary advised as the palace.

Particularly impressive are the many rooms with a full interior. It's all so, as if the people of the 19th century still live there. One gets an impression of the opulent lifestyle of the royal family and the most important people on the farm.

Since 1995 the castle is managed together with the surrounding landscape and the other palaces of Sintra on the list of World Cultural and Natural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.