El comboio whizzes on Sintra – Cais de Sodre’ metro line: exactly in the middle there’s Queluz, the station of a quaint village hosting the Palacio Nacional, known as the Portugues Versailles.
Inside
Residence of Lusitan Kings, his strong suit is the brilliant baroque Garden, conflicting with the Austerity of the Neo-Classic Palace. Don Joao IV in 1654 created the Infantado House; in 1832 began the Civil War and Dona Maria II is crowned Empress.
Inside here the Sala de los Embajadores and Music Room, often used for concerts thanks to Don Pedro’s patronage; the author is Mateus Vicente de Oliveira even if he was replaced by Jean Baptiste Robillion upon request of Marques de Pombal, due to the Lisbon’s earthquake on 1755.
A lot of pavilions, the one sticking out is dedicated to Equestrian Art; la Picaria Real, that is the Royal Academy, and the School hosting original saddles and harnesses from XVIII Century. On the close side there is a wide training space for jockeys and horses.
Outside
Along the Park perimeter are scattered 15 lead statues showing classical myhts: Mars, Minerva, Diana, works by English sculptor John Cheers. From 2003 to 2009, it was an intervention of maintenance realized by the World Monuments Fund.
El Canal de los Azulejos acrosses the park: a colorful runnel surrounded on both side by a long sequence of aureate tilings. The Royal Family sailed it with a gondola; the scenes are about courting and familiar issues.
The lovely Botanical Gardes is symmetric with 4 glasshouses on respective corners. A vast collection of exotic plants coming worldwide; reminding names of haunting hedges as Antiguo Jardin de la Barraca Rica(Old garden of rich Tent)) or Escalera de los Leones (Lions Perron).
Afteright this intense tour-de-force, it arrives the deserved prize: in Avenida da Republica a small food pub ‘A Galia’ welcomed me with a multiple-meats burger, an excellent local craft beer and an appetizing waterfall of batatas! Bom profit!
