The History of Park and National Palace of Pena

Yet the history of this magical place begins much earlier. In the 12th century, following reports of apparitions of Our Lady, a chapel was erected on this site. In 1503, Manuel I ordered the construction of another religious building here, the Royal Monastery of Our Lady of Pena, later entrusted to the Order of Saint Jerome. From this complex, the former church, the cloister and the ground-floor spaces have survived, including the rooms that once housed the Chapter House and the Monks’ Refectory. Within the Park of Pena, spaces used by this religious community are also preserved, such as the Manueline Chapel and the Monk’s Grotto, which at the time formed part of the monastic enclosure.

The earthquake that struck Lisbon in 1755 damaged the building, though without destroying it. The monks’ presence in this religious house ended almost eight decades later, when religious orders were dissolved in 1834 and the monastery was abandoned.

In 1838, the monastery was purchased by Portugal’s consort king, Ferdinand II, a prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, nephew of Duke Ernst I of Coburg and of Leopold I of Belgium. Two years earlier he had married the Queen of Portugal, Maria II, and after the birth of the heir to the throne, the future Pedro V, he received the title of consort king.

Ferdinand II was one of the most cultured men of 19th century Portugal. A polyglot, he spoke German, Hungarian, French, English, Spanish, Italian and, of course, Portuguese. In his childhood, the then Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha received a thorough education in which the arts, especially music and drawing, played fundamental roles. During his entire life, he maintained a deep connection with the arts whether as an artist, collector or sponsor and becoming known nationally as the King-Artist.

Shortly after his arrival in Portugal, he fell for Sintra and acquired, from his own personal fortune, the Monastery of Our Lady of Pena, then in ruins, as well as all the lands surrounding the property. This sixteenth century monastery held an enormous degree of fascination for the king stemming both from his Germanic education and the romantic imaginary prevailing at the time that attracted him to the hills and the aesthetic value of the ruins. The original project was simply to restore the building as the summer residence for the royal family but his enthusiasm led him to opt for the construction of a palace and extending the pre-existing construction under the supervision of Baron Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege, a mineralogist and mine engineer who was then residing in Portugal. The building is circled by other architectural structures that appeal to the medieval imaginary, such as the parapet paths, the lookout towers, an access tunnel and even its own drawbridge. The palace incorporates architectural references displaying Manueline and Moorish influences that together produce a surprising scenario recollecting “a thousand and one nights.” The Palace of Pena thus emerged from the combination of the former Hieronymite monastery with a sophisticated 19th-century building, reflecting a taste for Romantic revivalism.

This resulted in a building with two very different architectural wings, each with distinct functions: while the former monastery, or Old Palace, was intended to house the bedrooms of the princes and princesses, the New Palace would contain the state rooms and the apartments of Their Majesties. However, after the unexpected death of Maria II in 1853, at just 34 years of age, Ferdinand II came to live in the former monastery — first alone and later with his second wife, the opera singer Elise Hensler, ennobled as Countess of Edla. The New Palace was reserved for receptions and distinguished guests.

In the park, reflecting the expression of the romantic aesthetic combined with the search for exoticism and the untamed wildness of nature, the king designed twisting paths that would take visitors off in discovery of key reference landmarks and where they could best appreciate some stunning views: the High Cross, the Temple of Columns, St. Catherine’s Heights, the Grotto of the Monk, the Little Birds Fountain, the Queen’s Fern Valley and the Valley of the Lakes. Along the pathways, in keeping with his interest as a collector, he planted tree species from every continent and in the process rendering the 85 hectares of the Park of Pena as the most important arboretum existing in Portugal. Among the many highlights are the Asian camelia collections introduced by Ferdinand II into the Park of Pena in the 1840s and that have become a landmark in the Sintra winter and the cause for dances and festivals. The exotic groves frame pavilions and small constructions to great scenarios of unquestionable natural beauty that are also of great historical and heritage importance.

Ferdinand II and his second wife, Elise Hensler, built the Chalet of the Countess of Edla, located on the western side of the Park of Pena. This two-storey construction, of Alpine inspiration, contained a strong scenic component and maintained an expressive visual relationship with the Palace.

The second phase of occupation of Pena by the Royal Family is marked by the presence of Carlos I and Queen Amelia of Orléans, from the 1890s onwards.

These monarchs would spend part of the summer season in the palace before then moving onto the Citadel of Cascais for further vacations. While the monarchs and members of their court stayed in the Old Palace, the princes occupied apartments in the tower of the New Palace, next to the great state room, the Noble Hall. After the regicide, Manuel II, in 1908, also spent long periods in this palace where he maintained his former princely chambers on the noble floor of the Turret Tower while also turning to the former chambers of his father on the lower floor of the cloister to attend to his official functions.

Queen Amelia was in the Palace of Pena when taken by surprise by news of the Declaration of the Republic on 5th October 1910, and where she departed from for Mafra to meet up with mother-in-law, Maria Pia, and her son, Manuel, before embarking on the royal yacht D. Amélia in Ericeira and setting sail for Gibraltar.

The Palace of Pena was classified as a National Monument in 1910 and ranks as the single most important site in the Cultural Landscape of Sintra, classified by UNESCO as World Heritage in 1995.

In 2000, Parques de Sintra took over the running of the Park of Pena before, in 2007, the company became responsible for managing the palace. In 2012, the National Palace of Pena became a member of the European Royal Residence Network.

Over the years, Parques de Sintra has undertaken constant work within the framework of conservation, restoration and revaluation of the vast heritage incorporated into the Park and Palace of Pena, with highlights including the reconstruction project for the Chalet of the Countess of Edla – distinguished in 2013 with the Europa Nostra – European Union Award for Cultural Heritage in the Conservation category – and the complete restoration of the Great Hall in the Palace of Pena.

The Cultural Routes programme, launched by the Council of Europe in 1987, demonstrates in a visible way, by means of a journey through space and time, how the heritage of the different countries and cultures of Europe represent a share cultural heritage. The Cultural Routes put into practice the fundamental values of Council of Europe: human rights, cultural democracy, cultural diversity and identity, dialogue, mutual exchange and enrichments across boundaries and centuries. As of 2020, there are 40 certified Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (www.coe.int/routes).