The Cultural Landscape of Sintra is a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Sintra hills, in the municipality of Sintra, inscribed in 1995. UNESCO describes Sintra as the first centre of European Romantic architecture in the 19th century, when King Ferdinand II turned a ruined monastery into a palace and planted a park with local and exotic trees.
The site covers 946 hectares, with a buffer zone of 3,641 hectares, and lies inside the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park.
Monuments in the Cultural Landscape of Sintra
- Pena Palace: the palace King Ferdinand II built from 1838 around a 16th-century monastery, in an 85-hectare park.
- Moorish Castle: a fortification founded in the 10th century under Muslim rule, on the peak next to Pena.
- National Palace of Sintra: the royal palace in the town centre, with the two conical chimneys of its kitchen.
- Quinta da Regaleira: an estate built from 1904 to 1910, with a Neo-Manueline palace and the Initiation Well.
- Monserrate Palace: the summer palace of the Cook family, in a park of plants from every continent.
- Capuchos Convent: a Franciscan convent founded in 1560, with rooms lined in cork.
History of the Cultural Landscape of Sintra
- 6 December 1995: the World Heritage Committee inscribes the site at its 19th session in Berlin, under criteria (ii), (iv) and (v).
- First in Europe: Sintra was the first site in Europe inscribed by UNESCO as a cultural landscape.
- Reason for inscription: UNESCO records that the palaces, estates and parks of the hills created a combination of parks and gardens that influenced landscape architecture across Europe.
- 2000: Parques de Sintra, a company owned by the Portuguese State, begins to manage the public parks and monuments of the site.
Visiting the Cultural Landscape of Sintra
- Tickets: Parques de Sintra manages Pena, the Moorish Castle, the National Palace, Monserrate and the Capuchos Convent. Quinta da Regaleira is run by Fundação CulturSintra and has its own tickets.
- Distances: the National Palace and Quinta da Regaleira are in the town, Pena and the Moorish Castle are on the peaks above it, and Monserrate and the Capuchos Convent are further west in the hills.
Places in the Cultural Landscape of Sintra