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I snapped Dan
in a turret
from an adjacent
turret of my own
Detail |
The Pena Palace is at the top of Sintra's large hill, above the
Moorish Castle. It seemed logical to begin there and work our way
back down. It's a "fantasy castle," built as a summer
residence by Prince Ferdinand in 1840. The architecture is whimsical
and quirky, to say the least, looking a bit like someone crossed
a fortress with Disneyland. Prince Ferdinand was German-born,
an eccentric artist, and the husband of Portugal's Queen Maria.
After touring his palace, I think it is safe to say that this fellow
was a character.
The architect, Ludwig von Eschwege of Prussia, was quite probably
a character as well. The palace is covered with tiles, turrets,
and strange bits of ornamentation, like the bay
window that Dan
captured nicely. Eschwege was evidently a modest fellow, too: he
placed a statue of himself, gazing out to sea, a little ways out
from the palace on the crest of the hill.
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A well-ordered
row
of flowerpots
Detail
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We looked around the exterior for a bit, and then headed inside
to take the tour of the palace interior. It was richly furnished,
as you might expect of a palace. The collection included furniture
designed by Eiffel, and china designed by Ferdinand himself. I
particularly liked the central atrium, a sunny space filled with
plants.
One of the palace legends is that the place settings
at the dining table were left just as you see them today when
the family fled during the revolution in 1910. |
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The view as
we approached the Pena Palace
Detail |
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