It is located in Largo Rainha Dona Amélia, in the parish of São Martinho, in the town of Sintra, District of Lisbon, Central Portugal
In the past it was one of the Royal Palaces and today it is owned by the Portuguese State, which uses it for tourist and cultural purposes.
The urban building, its construction began in the 15th century, although an old building from the Muslim era was used.
The building features medieval, Gothic, Manueline, Renaissance and Romantic style architecture.
Today the monument is considered an example of organic architecture of a set of apparently separate bodies, but which are part of a whole linked together through courtyards, stairs, corridors and galleries.
The Palace was used by the Portuguese Royal Family practically until the end of the Monarchy, in 1910, it was also in this space that D. Manuel received the news of the discovery of Brazil, D. Afonso V was born and died, D. Afonso VI was imprisoned and D. João II was made king.
The building has a complex plan, organized in a "V" and has a staggered volume made up of cobblestones, and the coverage is made up of multiple differentiated hipped roofs, the pair of tall conical chimneys measuring 33 meters high.
The main elevation is organized into three bodies, the central one being higher and set back in relation to the ends, on the ground floor an arcade with four broken arches topped by five windows with limestone framing.
The other fronts of the building present a complex articulation of protruding and recessed bodies, highlighting the cubic volume of the Coat of Arms Room.
The internal compartments are reflected in nuclei organized around courtyards, namely: the Archers' Room, the Moorish or Arab Room, the Magpies' Room, the Swans' Room and the Coat of Arms' Room, the Mermaids' Room and the Audience Room, the Chinese or Pagoda Room, D. Sebastião's Room, the Prison Room of D. Afonso VI and the Kitchen.
The Coat of Arms Room displays the coat of arms of 72 Portuguese noble families and the eight children that D. Manuel I had when it was built between 1516 and 1520.
The Swan Room gets its name from the fact that the ceiling is completely decorated with 27 paintings of these animals, and begins with a legend that suggested that the Duke of Burgundy had offered a couple of swans to the Infanta D. Isabel.
The swan was the emblem of Henry IV of England, brother of Philippa of Lencastre, the infanta's uncle, also a symbol of eternal fidelity common in romances of the time, in which knights sailed along rivers in a barge pulled by a swan to save the ladies.
The Sala das Pegas was where D. Sebastião heard Luíz Vaz de Camões reading “Os Lusíadas”, where the legend that Almeida Garrett tells in “O Romanceiro”, a work from 1843, resides.
The Moorish or Arabic Room is the bedroom of D. João I, the current decoration is from the Manueline period, integrating tiles with a geometric composition with a three-dimensional effect, the exoticism of the space is accentuated with the sculptural set of the central fountain in gilded bronze.
The Chinese or Pagoda Room, located in one of the oldest areas of the Palace where the royal apartments were located prior to the works of D. João I, there is a monumental Pagoda from the Qing dynasty built in China at the end of the 18th or beginning of the 19th century.
D. Sebastião's Bedroom, the king may have used this room to sleep during his stays in Sintra, the wall decoration is from the 16th century, it features relief tiles finished with a border with vine motifs and fleur-de-lis shaped cobs.
D. Afonso VI's Prison Room was where the king remained imprisoned and monitored for 9 years on the orders of his brother, King D. Pedro II, following his removal due to his inability to reign, having ended up dying in this room in 1683.
One of the oldest rooms in the Palace, the only room in which the window has an iron grille, the Mudejar ceramic flooring dates back to the 15th century and is particularly rare.
The Palatine Chapel, with a rectangular plan and single nave, has walls covered in ornamental painting, a wooden ceiling and a ceramic floor representing the oldest examples of Mudéjar work in Portugal.
The religious space from the reign of D. Dinis (early 14th century) with the invocation of the Holy Spirit (motif of doves carrying an olive branch in their beak) in the frescoes on the walls.
The kitchen from the beginning of the 15th century was built for large hunting banquets. Inside there are several furnaces and two large ovens, a stove and a tinned copper kitchen set consisting of lunchboxes, fish dishes, pots, pans, saucepans and frying pans.
The white tile covering of the walls from the end of the 19th century is from the same period as the heraldic composition with the royal arms of Portugal and Savoy placed there in 1889 belonging to Queen Maria Pia of Savoy, the last monarch to inhabit the Palace.
The urban building, its construction began in the 15th century, although an old building from the Muslim era was used.
The building features medieval, Gothic, Manueline, Renaissance and Romantic style architecture.
Today the monument is considered an example of organic architecture of a set of apparently separate bodies, but which are part of a whole linked together through courtyards, stairs, corridors and galleries.
The Palace was used by the Portuguese Royal Family practically until the end of the Monarchy, in 1910, it was also in this space that D. Manuel received the news of the discovery of Brazil, D. Afonso V was born and died, D. Afonso VI was imprisoned and D. João II was made king.
The building has a complex plan, organized in a "V" and has a staggered volume made up of cobblestones, and the coverage is made up of multiple differentiated hipped roofs, the pair of tall conical chimneys measuring 33 meters high.
The main elevation is organized into three bodies, the central one being higher and set back in relation to the ends, on the ground floor an arcade with four broken arches topped by five windows with limestone framing.
The other fronts of the building present a complex articulation of protruding and recessed bodies, highlighting the cubic volume of the Coat of Arms Room.
The internal compartments are reflected in nuclei organized around courtyards, namely: the Archers' Room, the Moorish or Arab Room, the Magpies' Room, the Swans' Room and the Coat of Arms' Room, the Mermaids' Room and the Audience Room, the Chinese or Pagoda Room, D. Sebastião's Room, the Prison Room of D. Afonso VI and the Kitchen.
The Coat of Arms Room displays the coat of arms of 72 Portuguese noble families and the eight children that D. Manuel I had when it was built between 1516 and 1520.
The Swan Room gets its name from the fact that the ceiling is completely decorated with 27 paintings of these animals, and begins with a legend that suggested that the Duke of Burgundy had offered a couple of swans to the Infanta D. Isabel.
The swan was the emblem of Henry IV of England, brother of Philippa of Lencastre, the infanta's uncle, also a symbol of eternal fidelity common in romances of the time, in which knights sailed along rivers in a barge pulled by a swan to save the ladies.
The Sala das Pegas was where D. Sebastião heard Luíz Vaz de Camões reading “Os Lusíadas”, where the legend that Almeida Garrett tells in “O Romanceiro”, a work from 1843, resides.
The Moorish or Arabic Room is the bedroom of D. João I, the current decoration is from the Manueline period, integrating tiles with a geometric composition with a three-dimensional effect, the exoticism of the space is accentuated with the sculptural set of the central fountain in gilded bronze.
The Chinese or Pagoda Room, located in one of the oldest areas of the Palace where the royal apartments were located prior to the works of D. João I, there is a monumental Pagoda from the Qing dynasty built in China at the end of the 18th or beginning of the 19th century.
D. Sebastião's Bedroom, the king may have used this room to sleep during his stays in Sintra, the wall decoration is from the 16th century, it features relief tiles finished with a border with vine motifs and fleur-de-lis shaped cobs.
D. Afonso VI's Prison Room was where the king remained imprisoned and monitored for 9 years on the orders of his brother, King D. Pedro II, following his removal due to his inability to reign, having ended up dying in this room in 1683.
One of the oldest rooms in the Palace, the only room in which the window has an iron grille, the Mudejar ceramic flooring dates back to the 15th century and is particularly rare.
The Palatine Chapel, with a rectangular plan and single nave, has walls covered in ornamental painting, a wooden ceiling and a ceramic floor representing the oldest examples of Mudéjar work in Portugal.
The religious space from the reign of D. Dinis (early 14th century) with the invocation of the Holy Spirit (motif of doves carrying an olive branch in their beak) in the frescoes on the walls.
The kitchen from the beginning of the 15th century was built for large hunting banquets. Inside there are several furnaces and two large ovens, a stove and a tinned copper kitchen set consisting of lunchboxes, fish dishes, pots, pans, saucepans and frying pans.
The white tile covering of the walls from the end of the 19th century is from the same period as the heraldic composition with the royal arms of Portugal and Savoy placed there in 1889 belonging to Queen Maria Pia of Savoy, the last monarch to inhabit the Palace.
