Palácio Nacional da Pena
A Romantic palace commissioned by King Fernando II and completed around 1854 on a hilltop in the Serra de Sintra.
From a Hieronymite convent to Fernando II's folly
Where the yellow and red walls gleam today there stood first a twelfth-century hermitage dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Pena and, from the reign of Manuel I, a monastery of the Order of Saint Jerome. The 1755 earthquake left it in ruins. In 1838, the prince consort Fernando II bought the convent, the surrounding Serra and the nearby Castelo dos Mouros with his personal fortune. Between 1842 and 1854 he raised the new palace alongside German architect Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege, Baron of Eschwege, incorporating the old monastic structure into a summer residence for the royal family. UNESCO inscribed it as part of the Cultural Landscape of Sintra in 1995.
Battlemented terraces, the triton arch and the Manueline cloister
The route deliberately blends Neo-Gothic, Neo-Manueline, Neo-Moorish and Neo-Renaissance elements — the eclectic, exotic taste that Romanticism craved. You pass under the triton arch set above a shell, walk the battlemented terraces with views over Lisboa and the Atlântico, and enter the Manueline cloister preserved from the old convent. Inside, the royal apartments contain their original furnishings, the copper kitchen and the chapel with its alabaster altarpiece. Around the palace, Fernando II's park brings together sequoias, ferns and camellias gathered from across the globe.
Timed entry, bus 434 and the best time to visit
Entry to the interior is by timed slot with a 30-minute access window, so it is worth buying your ticket the day before. A combined ticket (park and palace) costs around 20 euros and a park-only ticket around 12. Open daily 9:30–18:30, with last entry at around 18:00. From Sintra station, bus 434 (Circuito da Pena) runs every 15 minutes for around 7,60 euros return; going first thing avoids the queues and tour groups. Allow two to three hours to see the palace and park at a relaxed pace.
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