The Initiation Well
The descending spiral to the compass rose.
Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Susanne Nilsson — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Susanne Nilsson — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Susanne Nilsson — CC BY-SA 2.0
Regaleira is Sintra's esoteric riddle: a palace and garden kingdom built by the mysterious millionaire Carvalho Monteiro (1904), ciphered in symbol — Masonic, Templar, alchemical — 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 — 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 — the gardens run watchtowers, grottoes and stepping-stone crossings. It adjoins the town on foot (unlike the summits) — 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 — the children's first photo.
Rua Barão da Regaleira, 2710-567 Sintra
The Biester PalaceBiester is Sintra's most recently unveiled secret: the dark Gothic palace on the4 minutes walk4.8
The Sintra National PalaceThe National Palace is the town's heart and Portugal's oldest continuously lived6 minutes walk4.6
The Moorish CastleThe Moorish Castle is Sintra's Great Wall: Muslim ramparts (8th-9th century) wri9 minutes walk4.5
The Pena PalacePena is Europe's coloured Romantic dream: a red-and-yellow palace crowning Sintr13 minutes walk4.5Millions Monteiro made his fortune in Brazilian coffee, his passion the esoteric orders — 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 — the mystery itself is the design.