Our second castle visit in Sintra was the Palacio Nacional de Pena, or the Pena Palace. It couldn't have been more different from the Moorish Castle! The Moorish Castle was medieval, ruins with thick stone walls and not much else. The Pena Palace was just that - a palace! It was originally a monastery. But was used in the 1800s as a retreat for the Portugese royal family when they wanted to escape the heat in the city of Lisbon. Nice country vacation home!
This is our first view of Pena Palace, as seen from the top of the Moorish Castle.
The main entrance gate - you can already see the difference in style.
View back down into Sintra from a patio on the back side of the Palace.
Because of the way the Palace was perched right at the top of a mountain, it was difficult to get an all-encompassing picture. So I had to settle for ones looking up from inside the walls. It was yellow and pink!
Again, with the tiling detail - here are just a few pictures of some of the intricate tiles that covered large surface areas on the walls of the Palace.
I'm particularly amused with this one where one little ceramic knight is slaying another one!
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