National Pena Palace, dating from 1839, is situated about 4,5km from Sintra’s historical centre, on at the top of the Monte da Pena, and is considered to be the most complete and beautiful monument of the Portuguese 19th century Romantic revival architecture.
The Palace was imagined by Dom Fernando of Saxe Coburg-Gotha, who married the queen Dona Maria II in 1836, and completely fell in love with the beautiful Sintra region and bought this property, on the site of an old monastery belonging to the Order of St. Jerome.
The Baron of Eschwege started the construction work, that was inspired in the Baviera palaces, in order to create a singular building that conjugated influences of others castles in the centre of Europe, with the Moorish lines and Gothic and Manueline motif’s, according to the revivalist taste (neo-Gothic, neo-Manueline, neo-Islamic, neo-Renaissance). In the surrounding area, he decided to make a magnificent woodland park in the English style, with a wide variety of exotic tree species.
The Palace interior remains decorated according to the Royal tastes of the princes and Princesses that lived here. Walls decorated with astonishing glazed tiles, trompe d’oeil effects and several design masterpieces, such as the alabaster altarpiece attributed to one of the most important architects, that also contributed to the Lisboa most famous monument: Jerónimos Monastery.
A restaurant is nowadays installed in one of the wings of the palace, with a terrace that offers a beautiful panoramic view over the Sintra mountain range and the coast.

The Palace is closed on Mondays
The tickets are sold on the entrance of the Park up to 4.30pm.