On March 2, 2022 we visited the beautiful Queluz National Palace and its gardens, in Sintra. Now, after 1 year, I realized that I forgot to write about our visit here on the blog and decided to catch up. Better late than never!
The story
The Queluz Palace and its gardens are one of the finest examples of Portuguese architecture from the late 18th century. Built by order of Pedro III, husband of Queen Maria I (1734-1816), and used as a royal residence, this palace is one of the finest examples of Portuguese architecture from the late 18th century.
It served as a discreet place of imprisonment for Queen Maria I, while she was insane and especially after the death of Dom Pedro in 1786. After the fire that struck the Ajuda Palace in 1794, the Queluz Palace became the official residence of the Portuguese Prince Regent, the future Dom João VI, and his family. It remained this way until the Royal Family fled to Brazil in 1807, due to the French Invasions.
Construction of the Palace began in 1747, with Mateus Vicente de Oliveira as its architect. Despite being much smaller, it is often called the “Portuguese Versailles“. From 1826 onwards, the palace slowly ceased to be the chosen one of the Portuguese sovereigns. After a serious fire in 1934, which destroyed its interior, the monument was extensively restored and is now open to the public.
One of the wings of the Queluz Palace, the Dona Maria Pavilion, built between 1785 and 1792 by the architect Manuel Caetano de Sousa, is currently an exclusive guest room for foreign heads of state visiting Portugal.
The surrounding gardens are embellished with fountains and ornamental lakes where water gushes out from mythological figures, among which the sculptural group around the lake in the Garden of Neptune stands out.
It has been classified as a National Monument since 1910.
Read more about its history on the official website.
Our tour in photos
Celo, my mother-in-law and I paid 28.50 euros to visit the palace and gardens. See ticket prices on the official website. We went with Júlia in a stroller when she was 10 months old and fortunately we didn't have any problems with accessibility.
I found the palace to be beautiful! Who knows, maybe one day I'll come back in spring or summer to see if there are more colors in the garden and water in the stream.
Now what I like most: photos!
