Sintra National Palace

The Palace of Sintra (Portuguese: Palácio Nacional de Sintra), also called Town Palace (Palácio da Vila Vila=Town) is located in the town of Sintra, in the Lisbon District of Portugal. It is a present-day historic house museum.

It is the best-preserved medieval royal residence in Portugal, being inhabited more or less continuously from at least the early 15th century to the late 19th century. It is a significant tourist attraction, and is part of the cultural landscape of Sintra, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The history of the castle begins in the Moorish Al-Andalus era, after the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the 8th century, when Sintra had two castles. One was located atop of a hill overlooking Sintra. It is known as the Castelo dos Mouros (Castle of the Moors), and is now a romantic ruin.

The second castle was located downhill from the Castelo dos Mouros, and was the residence of the Islamic Moorish Taifa of Lisbon rulers of the region. Its first historical reference dates from the 10th century by Arab geographer Al-Bacr. In the 12th century the village was conquered by King Afonso Henriques, who took the 'Sintra Palace' castle for his use. The blend of Gothic, Manueline, Moorish, and Mudéjar styles in the present palace is, however, mainly the result of building campaigns in the 15th and early 16th centuries.

Nothing built during Moorish rule or during the reign of the first Portuguese kings survives. The earliest surviving part of the palace is the Royal Chapel, possibly built during the reign of King Dinis I in the early 14th century. Much of the palace dates from the times of King John I, who sponsored a major building campaign starting around 1415.

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