360º visit to the National Palace of Pena
Using high-resolution images, which allow you to observe all the details, this 360° virtual visit to the National Palace of Pena offers the opportunity to freely explore the entire exhibition route of one of the most important national monuments, as well as to deepen your knowledge about the spaces and the main objects of the collections using interpretative texts. With this digital experience, the National Palace of Pena also becomes more accessible, particularly to visitors with reduced mobility.
Accessibility
The National Palace of Pena is not accessible to people with reduced mobility due to the existence of steps throughout the circuit, as well as narrow corridors that are currently impossible to change. Even so, the palace's shop (ground floor), restaurant (first floor) and cafeteria (terrace) are accessible via a lift that connects the various floors of the former Coach Houses building. The outdoor space surrounding the palace, where the bathroom facilities are located, is also accessible. To access the palace and its external terraces, various pieces of equipment are available to overcome the steep gradients, irregular paving and unevenness of the park, such as the shuttle (bus) between the park entrance and the base of the palace, an electric traction machine that pulls wheelchairs along the park's winding paths, manual wheelchairs with folding chassis and permanent ramps.
The Virtual Visit seeks to make the National Palace of Pena more accessible, including to people with reduced mobility, thanks to the virtual availability of the entire museum route. This monument thus becomes closer to all visitors, even if it is not possible for them to visit it physically.
Innovation
Virtual visits to heritage sites are becoming increasingly common, although they often only allow visitors to visit the spaces, without providing content that offers a direct and engaging experience with the heritage site itself and with the collections. With this new digital experience, Parques de Sintra has developed a virtual visit model that aims to establish an informed and stimulating connection between the visitor, the National Palace of Pena and its collections. In this 360° Visit, it is therefore possible to explore details of the building and of the collections, thanks to the high definition of the images specially captured for this project. These images not only allow us to enlarge details, but they were also captured from privileged perspectives that are inaccessible to visitors during a physical visit to the palace.
