The wall loop
The full Arab writhe on the rock edge.
Ввласенко — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Draceane — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Draceane — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Draceane — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Moorish Castle is Sintra's Great Wall: Muslim ramparts (8th-9th century) writhing along the rock edge above the town — Arab-built to guard the Lisbon road and the ocean, surrendered (1147) after Lisbon's fall, its ruins Romantically restored by Ferdinand as part of the Pena project. Walking them is the visit: the full wall loop rising and falling between two main towers — the Royal Tower its peak: coloured Pena facing you on her summit (her best photographic angle, in fact), town and National Palace below, the ocean past the plains. It is Pena's natural pair: their gates face across the summit road — its ninety minutes falling between her and the town descent by course. The summit wind never rests — and the stairs are medieval-uneven: serious shoes.
The full Arab writhe on the rock edge.
Pena opposite, the ocean past the plain.
Castelo dos Mouros, 2710-405 Sintra
The Biester PalaceBiester is Sintra's most recently unveiled secret: the dark Gothic palace on the5 minutes walk4.8
The Pena PalacePena is Europe's coloured Romantic dream: a red-and-yellow palace crowning Sintr7 minutes walk4.5
The Sintra National PalaceThe National Palace is the town's heart and Portugal's oldest continuously lived7 minutes walk4.6
Quinta da Regaleira & the Initiation WellRegaleira is Sintra's esoteric riddle: a palace and garden kingdom built by the 9 minutes walk4.8The lines, siting and cisterns are the Arab core (8th-9th century) — the upper stones mostly Ferdinand's Romantic restoration (1840s) on original footings, and digs raised the Islamic hillside quarter with its wares (shown at the visitor centre). Moorish in soul and plan, Romantic in visible stone — like all Sintra's layers.