Sintra, Pena’s Castle
The Pena Palace of Sintra is a Romanticist castle completed in 1854, on a hill above Sintra, and can be easily spotted from Lisbon on a clear day. The site used to be a medieval chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Pena until King Manuel I ordered that a monastery be built — which was then donated to the Order of Saint Jerome. However it was heavily damaged by the great Lisbon earthquake; the chapel survived. surprising King Ferdinand II. It was then decided by the king to acquire the monastery and build what is now the grand Pena Palace as a summer residence of the King. In 1889 it was purchased by the Portuguese State and later classified as a national monument and transformed into a museum. Unused card. Grade: 1