Day 12: Sintra Palace

The bus took us up some incredibly tight and winding roads to Sintra today. This was a once remote area where the Lisbon aristocracy summered. At first I thought it was hard to imagine the level of wealth that would build such a large palace/property… then I thought of today’s billionaires, trillionaires and oligarchs who are burning through our global resources today. Suddenly it’s not hard to imagine!

This fairy tale palace was built in the 1850’s for Portugal’s last king, Carlos I, and only occupied for about 60 years. This palace has been very well preserved and contains much of King Carlos’ furnishings. Sadly because of the dense fog we missed out on the mountain and ocean view fit for a king.

Mounting weak royal authority and public discontent culminated in the assassination of King Carlos I in 1908. Just two years later, on October 5, 1910, the revolution overthrew his successor, King Manuel II, ending over 700 years of monarchy and establishing the First Portuguese Republic.

The Dictatorship (1926–1974): The unstable First Republic was overthrown by a military coup in 1926. This paved the way for António de Oliveira Salazar to build the Estado Novo ("New State"), a conservative authoritarian dictatorship that ruled the country for nearly five decades.

Transition to Democracy (1974): On April 25, 1974, a bloodless military coup known as the Carnation Revolution overthrew the regime. Citizens placed red carnations into the muzzles of soldiers' rifles, ending the dictatorship, decolonizing Portugal's overseas territories, and establishing the modern democratic republic.Read more