(is Disneyland inspired by this?)
(it was very foggy day)
| The third day of our stay we left Lisboa. We had to get up very early in the morning, because we expected a very long day. Another reason for early leaving of Lisboa was our rented car(Ales did not feel very comfortable with it at the beginning) and we wanted to avoid morning rush hours. At 8 o'clock we arrived to Sintra. We walked from the historical center to the top of the valley. There is placed the Pena National Palace which reminded us of pictures of Disneyland:-) This is a romantic palace from the half of the 19th century. And what is typical for romantic architecture is to take inspiration in previous architecture style. In this region it means Moorish, gothic and Manueline motifs. On our way we saw remains of Moorish castle. It dates back to the 8th century. In the city center we passed the Sintra National Palace. Unfortunatelly we couldn't enter the palace:-( With its two unusual chimneys that constitute the ex-libris of the region, it is the most important building constructed for the Royal Court, in Portugal. From Sintra we continues to the west and reached the most west place of continental Europe - Cabo da Roca. Unfortunatelly we approached the cape at the moment of total fog. From cape we continued to the north. Our next stop was another place under UNESCO's protection - Alcobaça.The Monastery of Santa Maria d'Alcobaça, north of Lisbon, was founded in the 12th century by King Alfonso I. Its size, the purity of its architectural style, the beauty of the materials and the care with which it was built make this a masterpiece of Cistercian Gothic art. Another stop and last for this day was Monastery of Batalha. The Monastery of the Dominicans of Batalha was built to commemorate the victory of the Portuguese over the Castilians at the battle of Aljubarrota in 1385. It was to be the Portuguese monarchy's main building project for the next two centuries. Here a highly original, national Gothic style evolved, profoundly influenced by Manueline art, as demonstrated by its masterpiece, the Royal Cloister and unfinished chapel. Be honest I love gothic architecture so I took so many pictures that even Ales looked at me in surprise and I didn't want to leave. It is really one of the nicest gothic cathedral I have ever visited!!! Then we continued to the north to the most north place of our stay - Guimaraes. We approached the town at approx. 8p.m. and highly appreciated my prebooking of all hotels. |
|
|
|
|
| Portugal was occupied by Moors - the original Maor's castle in Sintra |
Palacio de Pena in Sitra (is Disneyland inspired by this?) |
Palacio de Pena has strong influence of Arabian architecture |
|
|
|
|
| Famous "chimney palace" in Sintra | Cabo da Roca - the most West point of the continental Europe | Hanka at the Cabo da Roca |
|
|
|
|
|
Cliffs at the Cabo da Roca (it was very foggy day) |
Mosteiro de Sta. Maria da Vitoria in Alcobaqua | The whole complex is protected by UNESCO |
|
|
|
|
| Cloister and towers of Mosteiro | Alcobaqua Mosteiro from inside | Alcobaqua Mosteiro - the narrowest aisle we have ever seen |
|
|
|
|
| Alcobaqua Mosteiro is connected with a very sad love story | Another famous Portugish treasure protected by UNESCO - Batalha | Frontage of the Batalha cathedral |
|
|
|
|
| Interesting part of the Batalha cathedral - The Unfinished Chapel | It really doesn't have the roof! | How previous picture was taken? |
|
|
|
|
| Batalha from inside | Window decoration (somebody had to spend a lot of time!) | |