After an exhilarating day climbing mountains, to reach the
fanciful Pena Palace and the ruins of the 1,000 year old Moorish castle, both
perched high on the hills overlooking the town of Sintra, I stumbled upon
another unexpected delight. As I neared
the bottom of the hill on my walk back into town, I noticed signage for Quinta
da Regaleira, a turn of the 20th century palace that is now a UNESCO
World Heritage site. The brief
description in my guidebook sold me with promises of caves and other enchanted
goodies scattered across its extensive grounds. So without a moment’s
hesitation, I set off in that direction.
The predominately neo-Manueline mansion was built by an
Italian opera-set designer and is layered with a fusion of several other architectural
styles giving it a whimsical look. The mansion itself is worth touring, but it’s
the grounds of the property that beg to be explored. Armed with a map written
entirely in Portuguese, I did my best to decipher what sites lurked along the
meandering footpaths in the nine acre parkland built into the hillside.
The park boasts of a Roman
Catholic chapel, man-made lakes with waterfalls, hidden moss covered wells,
dewy grottoes, and the odd turret topped towers.
The highlight for me was the quite extensive network
of underground passageways peppered throughout the park. Waterfall Lake is one such
entrance to the caves.
Just hop the stone pathway across the lake and duck into
the cave.
Follow the eerily lit corridor that twists and turns before spitting
you out into the bottom of the initiation well.
Far overhead, a burst of
sunlight beckons you to climb the impressive stone spiral staircase wrapped
around the initiation well.
Round and round you climb, until you are once again
above ground.
Peer back over the edge of
the initiation well for a view of the tile work lining the bottom of the well.
Proud to have braved the darkness
and the unknown on my own, I set off with a spring in my step in search of whatever
surprise was tucked away around the next bend.
Bring a flashlight, a sense of
adventure, and make sure to put this on your list of places to see in Sintra.
awesome
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