Page 18 - Reside Magazine Lusk Associates

A lthough he only stayed for three days, Lord Byron was so
taken by the “glorious Eden” of Sintra, Portugal, that he wrote
his poem “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” while lodging at the
town’s Lawrence Hotel. Since Byron’s 1809 visit, much of
the surrounding landscape appears unchanged, including the
bouldered rump of the Serra de Sintra mountain range,
sprawling walls and parapets of the Moorish Castle, quaint villages shaded by
eucalyptus, and pine forests at its foothills, leading towards coastal cliffs that
drop sharply into the Atlantic. Except, of course, for the steady influx of tourists,
for whom the Lawrence Hotel has loyally remained open for 260 years.
Sintra’s fantastical setting enchants those who stumble upon it. A long-
term summer retreat for royalty, aristocrats, and foreign magnates, its stock
of stately residences sees Madonna’s 18th-century Moorish Revival mansion
neighboring Princess Elisabeth von Schmieder’s Quinta da Alegria royal estate.
Both of which are also within spitting distance of Brazilian entrepreneur Renato
de Albuquerque’s former summer residence, which has been newly transformed
into the Albuquerque Foundation.
“Sintra is like a child’s dream, a madman’s dream, a poem, a painting,”
French designer Philippe Starck, another local homeowner, told Spanish
newspaper El País. “It’s where the most beautiful houses in the world are,”
and where Starck says he goes to “get away from it all.”
Ancient empires, from the Celts to the Moors, have left their mark across
several millennia, but it was Ferdinand II of Portugal who transformed Sintra
into the center of 19th-century European Romantic architecture. The so-called
‘artist king’ erected Pena National Palace, an eclectic castle with operatic towers
of Manueline and Moorish influence, on the ruins of an old Hieronymite
monastery in 1839. The winding Rua Barbosa du Bocage links it with Sintra’s
other iconic landmarks, the Palácio de Monserrate and the Quinta da Regaleira.
These, along with the region’s many other monuments couched in mossy
greenery, offer visitors a sensory journey through history—well deserving
of the area’s UNESCO World Heritage status.
In the summer months, these centuries-old palaces and estates open up
their ornamental gardens, transforming Sintra into an outdoor stage. A ballet
festival occupies the grounds of the
Palácio de Seteais; Sintra Festival, an
international showcase of classical
music, can be heard on the June winds;
while Jazz em Monserrate takes over
the town’s parks in September.
Though MU.SA Sintra Museum of the
Arts has long been home to local arts,
the region has been lacking a museum

Previous page: A bridge leading to the
Quinta da Regaleira, a former royal estate
built in the early 20th century
Right: The Palácio de Monserrate is an
example of Sintra’s Romantic architecture

Opposite: The Albuquerque Foundation,
which opened in February, houses Brazilian
designer Renato de Albuquerque’s
collection of Chinese ceramics

16