The Initiation Well
The descending spiral to the compass rose.
Diego Delso โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Susanne Nilsson โ CC BY-SA 2.0 ยท Susanne Nilsson โ CC BY-SA 2.0 ยท Susanne Nilsson โ CC BY-SA 2.0
Millions Monteiro made his fortune in Brazilian coffee, his passion the esoteric orders โ hiring an Italian stage designer (Manini) to build him a symbolic cosmos: Dante's degrees, Templar legend and alchemy as stair and stone. Nobody holds the complete decipherment โ the mystery itself is the design.
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Regaleira is Sintra's esoteric riddle: a palace and garden kingdom built by the mysterious millionaire Carvalho Monteiro (1904), ciphered in symbol โ Masonic, Templar, alchemical โ every stair, fountain and grotto a message to be read. Its summit is the Initiation Well: an inverted tower in the earth spiralling down nine levels (hell's or purification's degrees) to a compass rose at the base โ and from it genuine dark tunnels deliver you behind the lake's waterfall: the strangest walk in all Portugal, and children adore it absolutely. The palace itself is neo-Manueline carved to lace, its chapel symbolled to the ceiling โ the gardens run watchtowers, grottoes and stepping-stone crossings. It adjoins the town on foot (unlike the summits) โ so give it the afternoon after the morning summits: its magic outlasts fatigue.
The descending spiral to the compass rose.
Wet stone delivering behind the waterfall.
The floating crossing โ the children's first photo.
Rua Barรฃo da Regaleira, 2710-567 Sintra