Quinta da Regaleira

                       Quinta da Regaleira

One of the places you must visit in your Sintra tour is Quinta da Regaleira. This fabulous place was built between 1904 and 1910 and is located at the town’s historic center.

It is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO within the "Cultural Landscape of Sintra". Along with the other palaces in the area such as the Quinta do Relógio, Pena, Monserrate, and Seteais palaces, it is considered one of the principal tourist attractions of Sintra.

Its architecture takes us to the times of kings and queens with its Romantic palace and chapel, and a luxurious park that features lakes, grottoes, wells, benches, fountains, and a vast array of exquisite constructions. The palace is also known as "The Palace of Monteiro the Millionaire", which is based on the nickname of its best-known former owner, António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro. The palace was designed by the Italian architect Luigi Manini.

The villa is surprisingly homely inside, despite its ferociously carved fireplaces, frescos, and Venetian-glass mosaics. 

The palace contains five floors (a ground floor, three upper floors, and a basement). The ground floor consists of a series of hallways that all connect the living room, dining room, billiards room, balcony, some smaller rooms, and several stairways.

In turn, the first upper floor contains bedrooms and a dressing room. The second upper floor contains Carvalho Monteiro's office and the bedrooms of female servants. The third upper floor contains the ironing room and a smaller room with access to a terrace. Finally, the basement contains the male servants' bedrooms, the kitchen (which featured an elevator for lifting food to the ground floor), and storage rooms.

It also hosts theatre, dance, concerts, and other entertainment events throughout the year.

Park:

Much of the four hectares of land in the surrounding estate consists of a densely treed park lined with myriad roads and footpaths. The woods are neatly arranged in the lower parts of the estate but are left wild and disorganized in the upper parts, reflecting Carvalho Monteiro's belief in primitivism. Decorative, symbolic, and lively structures can be found throughout the park.

Initiation Wells:

The Initiation Wells (also called initiation wells or inverted towers) are two wells on the property that better resemble underground towers lined with stairs. These wells never served as water sources. Instead, they were used for ceremonial purposes that included Tarot initiation rites. The tunnels described above connect these wells to one another, in addition to various caves and other monuments located around the park.

Lakes, fountains, and the aquarium:

Bodies of water can be found in several places in the park. Two artificial lakes and several fountains were added by Monteiro. One of the most interesting and extravagant among them is the Aquarium, built as if it were naturally embedded in a large boulder. It was once considered the most important naturalist property in Regaleira. However, the Aquarium is no longer used and is poorly maintained.

Quinta da Regaleira is worth visiting in Sintra.