Private tours in Lisbon & surroundings
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Program
If time allows:
We start by XIX century Ajuda palace, one of Europe's most perfect romantic buildings. The façade in neoclassical
style is a contrast with the cozy and romantic interior. Inside, there are luxurious rooms lined with silk, decorated
with porcelain and glass and lit by crystal chandeliers. The Sculpture collection embodies about four hundred
artworks! There’s a huge set of Portuguese and European paintings, but the most eye-catching is the Furniture
collection of several European styles blended with oriental, exotic and naturalistic influences. Remarkable are also the
Portuguese, French, Flemish and Spanish tapestries.
Also worth noting are: the Music Room, the Ball room, the Ambassadors' hall, the most impressive being the
enormous Throne Room corresponding to the entire south wing and the Dining Room with its crystal chandeliers.
We then stop at Queluz, from the XVIII century, the Versailles-like palace. Used as the summer residence for royals,
it is the country's finest example of Rococo architecture. The rich interior decoration is notable for the high quality of
the craftsmanship. One of the highlights inside is the grandiose but elegant Throne Room, lined with mirrors and
adorned with crystal chandeliers and gilded statues. The Ambassadors' Room is just as outstanding, with a marble
floor and a ceiling painting.
Extensive eighteenth century formal gardens are preserved as a museum also in Rocaille style.
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Sintra is dominated by the two conical chimneys of the Palácio Nacional da Vila, dating from the XIV century; this is the oldest and the best preserved
medieval Royal Palace in Portugal, where Portuguese kings planned their sea expeditions. It’s the palace of the Portuguese conquerors, where one can see
the curious structure of a medieval construction, with labyrinthine corridors and stairways. It’s also considered one of the best glazed tiles museums in the
Peninsula, displaying a huge variety on its walls from the XV to the XIX centuries. Some amazing rooms include the Coat-of-arms hall, the Magpies
saloon, the Kitchen, the Chapel, among others.
Next is XIX century Pena Palace and its gardens. Pena palace is one of the major expressions of 19th century Romanticism in the world. The Palace has a
profusion of styles much in accordance with the exotic taste of the Romanticism, including the Neo-Gothic, Neo-Manueline, Islamic, Neo-Renaissance and
others. The interior was adapted to serve as the summer residence of the royal family and features amazing stuccos, painted walls and various tiles.
Built at approximately 500 meters above sea level, it stands on one of the rocky peaks of the Serra de Sintra, and blends in a surprisingly fortunate manner
with its natural background of greenery and crags and providing a ravishing view.
The Pena Park is a vast forested area completely surrounding the Palace. The exotic taste of the Romanticism was applied to the park as it was to the
palace. The king ordered trees from distant lands to be planted here: North America, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
The Mafra National Palace is a monumental Baroque and Italianized Neoclassical palace-monastery. This vast complex is among the most sumptuous
Baroque buildings in Portugal and one of the biggest monuments constructed in Europe in the 18th century. The facade is 220 meters long. It has about
1,200 halls and rooms, more than 4,700 doors and windows, and 156 stairways!
Mafra complex encompasses a basilica, the royal majestic palace and a beautiful convent. Its exhibit of exquisite Italian sculptures is unsurpassed. The
magnificent sets of bells, carillons and organs are the finest anywhere.
The gigantic rooms of the royal apartments are furnished with exceptional pieces of 18th century furniture and paintings. Most magnificent of all is the
Library, one of the finest in Europe, decorated with precious marble and exotic wood.
The Tapada Nacional de Mafra, a breathtakingly beautiful wildlife park that adjoins the palace.
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Ajuda royal palace - The statue of king Charles, one of the last kings of Portugal, is in front of the best royal palace
we have in Lisbon, from the beginning of the 19 century, built after all the terrible earthquakes of Lisbon. It's a palace
with a neoclassical facade, as it was fashionable all over Europe, and near the entrance there is a fine collection of
statues made by the school of artists who came to work here. Although their voluptuousness tells about life inside the
walls, they are still too austere, compared to the coziness of the interior. The interior is appropriate to a period when
royal families used to spend much of their time inside their dwellings. It's a jumble of furniture of different styles and
countries, most of them gifts from several monarchs of Europe. Paintings and portraits of the royal family match with
Spanish and Portuguese tapestries, French, and Italian chandeliers, Chinese and German porcelain, Portuguese and
French furniture, Egyptian, Portuguese and Italian marble and it all ends in a fantastic dinning room.
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Queluz National Palace is a Portuguese 18th-century palace is one of the last great Rococo buildings to be designed in
Europe. The palace was conceived as a summer retreat for Dom Pedro of Braganza, later to become husband and then
king consort to his own niece, Queen Maria I. It served as a discreet place of incarceration for Queen Maria as her
descent into madness continued in the years following Dom Pedro's death in 1786. Queluz Palace became the official
residence of the Portuguese prince regent, John VI, and his family and remained so until the Royal Family fled to Brazil
in 1807 following the French invasion of Portugal. Work on the palace began in 1747. Despite being far smaller, the
palace is often referred to as the Portuguese Versailles and today is open to the public as a major tourist attraction.
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Sintra National Palace Further down there is another palace built almost 450 years before Pena Palace. It has 2
chimneys, 33 meters high each, as inside royal banquets were prepared after the royal chasing, here in the forests of
Sintra. The interior has the oldest collection of glazed tiles in Portugal, made in the 15 and 16 centuries. It was mostly
a summer palace and glazed tiles from different periods keep rooms cool and work as a museum of tiles in a palace
where we can see the curious structure of a medieval construction. This was the palace where Portuguese kings
organized maritime expeditions and received navigators returning from their trips, like Columbus, Vasco da Gama and
many others. They also came to run away from the plagues in Lisbon in the middle of a luxuriant vegetation and a
healthy mineral water. This is the most ancient royal palace there is in Portugal and was the summer dwelling
place of the court since the 14 century, because of the coolness and mild temperature of the mountain during the hot
summers and the proximity of the ocean.
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Pena National Palace is the oldest palace inspired by European Romanticism. The palace stands on the top of a hill
above the town of Sintra, and on a clear day it can be easily seen from Lisbon and much of its metropolitan area. It is a
national monument and constitutes one of the major expressions of 19th century Romanticism in the world. The palace
is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal. King Ferdinand and Queen Maria II
intervened decisively on matters of decoration and symbolism. Among others, the King suggested vault arches,
Medieval and Islamic elements be included, and he also designed an exquisitely ornate window for the main façade The
palace quickly drew visitors and became one of Portugal's most visited monuments. Over time the colors of the red and
yellow façades have displayed such a chromatic variety.
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Commonly called «Mafra Convent» includes the Palace, the Monastery, the Library and the Basilica. The building of
the most opponent Portuguese Baroque monument began in 1717, under the supervision of the German architect
Friedrich Ludwig. The works were concluded by 1730. The façade is about 660 ft long, with the Basilica in the middle
and the Palace and the Monastery on each side. The marble came from the quarries of Pêro Pinheiro and Sintra, the
wood from Brazil. From France, Belgium, Italy and Holland arrived the bells, the statues, the carillons, the silver table
ware and the chandeliers. All this amounts to an enormous building with 880 rooms, 300 cells, 4500 doors and
windows, 154 staircases and 29 courtyards. The Royal Palace was a summer residence, besides lodging the Court
during the hunting season. An enormous corridor crosses the palace, giving access to all its rooms and chambers. The
magnificent Library, kept by the friars, has about 36 thousand rare books!
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