Pena Palace - O Fim

A pilgrimage site since the Middle Ages, the chapel of Our Lady of Penha was replaced by a Hieronymite monastery whose foundation was authorised in 1503 by King Manuel I (1469-1521), the monarch during the great Portuguese discoveries.

The monastery was greatly damaged by the 1755 earthquake and finally abandoned after the nationalisation of the monasteries in 1834.

n 1838, German Ferdinand Saxe Coburg-Gotha (1816-1885), King Consort of Queen Maria II , bought the ruins of the monastery, the woods and the Castle of the Moors and initiated the construction of a road that would link the palace to Sintra.

The remodelling of the old monastery (red buildings) began in 1840 and, around 1845, Ferdinand extended it by building another complex (yellow buildings) which was known as the 'New Palace' inspired by the palaces and castles of Bavaria.

The German architect Baron von Eschwege was in charge of the remodelling and the new construction.

And, last but not least, our own Padlock snug inside the Castle, I was getting quite desperate in the end but on the way out...at last! 🤪Read more