National Palace of Sintra

Why go

The National Palace of Sintra stands in the town's historic centre at Largo Rainha D. Amélia, and Parques de Sintra describes it as a set of buildings constructed, added to and adapted over many centuries, recognisable by the two conical chimneys crowning the royal kitchen. Parques de Sintra's page says the first building was probably built around the 10th or 11th century, when Sintra was under Moorish rule; Visit Lisboa says the main building campaigns after the Christian Reconquest were sponsored by kings Dinis, João I and Manuel I between the end of the 13th and the mid-16th century. It is a different monument from Pena Palace on the hill above the town. Parques de Sintra – Monte da Lua, a publicly owned company, manages it; its page offers essential, full, guided and theatrical visits and says circulation of private vehicles in the historic centre is limited to residents.