Quinta da Regaleira
Early 1900s estate in Sintra with a neo-Manueline palace, grottoes and the spiral Initiation Well.
The estate on the edge of Sintra's historic centre was bought in 1892 by António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro, a Brazilian-born businessman with a large fortune and an interest in alchemy, the Knights Templar and Freemasonry. Between 1904 and 1910 he had the grounds and buildings remade by Luigi Manini, an Italian scenographer who had worked at La Scala. The result is a four-hectare landscape of terraces, lakes, tunnels and towers, set within the Cultural Landscape of Sintra, inscribed by UNESCO in 1995.
The palace is built in a Romantic revivalist manner that draws on Gothic, Manueline and Renaissance detail, with pinnacles, gargoyles and carved window frames, and stands beside a matching chapel. The grounds hide a network of grottoes and underground passages linking the Eastern Grotto to the Initiation Well, an inverted tower about twenty-seven metres deep whose spiral staircase turns around nine landings. Visits are self-guided, with a downloadable map, and entry is by timed slot.
Highlights
- Initiation Well, an inverted tower with a spiral stair of nine landings
- Neo-Manueline palace and chapel designed by Luigi Manini
- Grottoes and underground passages beneath the gardens
- Part of the UNESCO Cultural Landscape of Sintra
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