The Pena Palace in Sintra, Portugal, is considered the finest example of Portuguese romanticism, a style that borrows from the Moors, German gothic revival and the local manueline architecture, according to FOX News. The palace looks like a castle, with yellow domes and red towers, a drawbridge and a half-man, half-fish sculpture appearing to hold up a window.
The land where the palace sits today was originally a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Pena. The construction occurred after an apparition of the Virgin Mary, according to the area tradition.
King Manuel I was very fond of the sanctuary and ordered construction of a monastery that was donated to the Order of Saint Jerome. For centuries after, the town of Pena was a small and quiet place for meditation that housed a maximum of eighteen monks, limited by the size of the building.
The monastery was severely damaged by lightening in the 18th century, and then turned to ruins in 1755, when the Great Lisbon Earthquake occurred. The chapel was all that remained intact.
The palace was then built at the bequest of Fernando II, the husband of the Portuguese Queen Maria II, in the 1840s. It was built around the remains of the monastery, which was then just derelict ruins, as well as the surrounding lands, including the nearby Castle of the Moors. The castle was intended to be a summer residence for the Portuguese royal family. The construction occurred between 1842 and 1854. The vault arches, Medieval and Islamic elements and the ornate window of the main facade were built at the suggestion of the king.
After his death, the castle was passed down until1889 when the state of Portugal purchased it and classified it as a national monument in 1910.
Today, tourists can walk through the gardens that feature plants from around the world, as well as a carp-filled pond with black swans.
The palace became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995.
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