If you like castles and hiking, go to Sintra

Sintra, a resort town located at the foothills of the Sintra Mountains, is a perfect place if you like castles and hiking in scenic surroundings. It is only a 30 minute car ride or a 50 min train ride from Lisbon. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to a high number of 19th century Romantic architecture.

We came to Lisbon for SteemFest but thought it would be nice to stay somewhere nearby before the event to learn more about Portugal. This was our first trip to this amazing country and I felt like we came upon a hidden gem not usually mentioned by travelers.

The train ride from Lisbon to Sintra was quite pleasant. It was surprisingly warm, with temperatures ranging between 26 and 30 degrees Celsius in the afternoon. We later learned that it was unusually warm for that time of year, which was the end of October. As I left the train station, I saw my first little castle-like building.

It was a somewhat strenuous walk up the hill on the way to our apartment, but the views made it all worthwhile.

Once again we rented a room at an apartment via airbnb, which in this case was a two-storied house whose hostess, Maria, was like a goddess of cornucopia with a large dining room full of sunripe tomatoes, bananas, walnuts, pineapples and other fruits, nuts and vegetables.

On our second day in Sintra, @hkjn and I went to explore the Castle of the Moors built between the 8th and 9th century. We had a 20 minute hike uphill until we reached an area with the Pena Palace.

Another ten-minute walk up led to the Castle of the Moors. We were lucky that day since it was Sunday and the entrance was free to all visitors. An entrance to the castle led to two doors, one of which led to the castle itself and another, to a beautiful area full of trees and offering scenic views of the castle and of Sintra.

There is a path from the Historic Center all the way up to the castle that ends in this area. After getting our fill of the views, we went back to the entrance and started our gentle ascent to this magnificent castle.

The castle was built by the moors during the period of Muslim Iberia between 711 and 1492, just like the castle in Alicante (see my post "Sit on the Iron Throne in Alicante"). The moors built this castle well, using the natural curves of the hill to place their roads and making the buildings fit well with their surroundings. There was not as much vegetation surrounding the castle as there is currently today.

There was a robust-looking building which was built by the Christian forces who conquered Lisbon in 1147 and used as a church. It is currently a museum housing impressive and carefully crafted tools from the Neolithic Period to 5000BC.

Even the trees looked camouflaged, trying to fit in with the surroundings:).

The castle was quite functional and had a large area for storing weapons, provisions and for exercise.

I must say that this is my favorite castle so far. Here are some more pictures that tried to capture its beauty and the scenic views of Sintra.

One can see the Pena Palace from up here.

Lord Byron, one of the greatest British poets and the father of Ada Lovelace, the enchantress of number, was deeply affected by the beauty of Sintra after spending a few days here, and dedicated a poem to it:

Lo! Cintra's glorious Eden intervenes
In variegated maze of mount and glen.
Ah me! what hand can pencil guide, or pen,
To follow half on which the eye dilates
Through views more dazzling unto mortal ken
Than those whereof such things the bard relates,
Who to the awe-struck world unlocked Elysium's gates?

I was certainly enchanted by Sintra and wanted to explore more. But it was getting quite hot and a high time for lunch and a siesta. We went down the winding roads towards the Historic Center where we had a nice lunch.

The next day, while @hkjn was worknig, I decided to explore the Historic Center more, especially the Quinta Da Regaleira which included a Romantic palace, grottoes, wells, a chapel, a beautiful park, fountains and many other gorgeous constructions.

It was more challenging to be a pedestrian in the center due to narrow roads and a large number of cars trying maneuver these roads some of which barely allowed them to pass, with their side mirrors almost touch the walls of the buildings.

The ticket to this magnificent area was six euros and it was very popular, and for a good reason!

Of course, I had to check out the famous initiation wells that were used for ceremonial purposes.

There is so much more that I would like to share with you, but the time is running out and it is time for dinner. I will say my adieu, until the next post where I will describe Lisbon or San Francisco's older sister.

It was thanks to SteemFest that @hkjn and I came across this gem. Thank you, @roelandp and team @firepower for choosing Lisbon this year!