The estate in light

A gallery of the estate

Photographs from the estate's own collection, and the archive of how earlier centuries saw the palace — two ways of looking at the same hillside.

Photographs

The estate as it stands today, from its own collection.

The Courtyard Fountain — The banded façade across the round basin — the view that greets you at the end of the garden walk. — The Courtyard Fountain The Palace

Water over Stone — The fountain at play before the galilé doors. — Water over Stone The Palace

Under the Galilé — Three horseshoe arches on slender columns, looking up from the loggia floor. — Under the Galilé The Palace

The Crescent — A gilded lunar crescent crowns the pavilion — the Nasrid sky over Sintra. — The Crescent The Palace

The Motto, Restored — White Kufic on Nasrid blue, three times repeated above the loggia doors. — The Motto, Restored The Motto

Sunset from the Serra — The palace catching the last light, folded into the Sintra hills. — Sunset from the Serra The Serra

The Lake — Dark still water beneath the palms — the romantic heart of the garden. — The Lake The Gardens

Water Lilies — The lake surface nearly hidden beneath the nenúfares, as the first owners planted it. — Water Lilies The Gardens

The Fern Cork Oak — The centuries-old sobreiro wearing its coat of ferns — the tree a queen prized above the coast. — The Fern Cork Oak The Gardens

Sintra Mist — The garden as the romantics knew it — wet cobbles, low cloud, no one about. — Sintra Mist The Gardens

The Mosaic Niche — Shell-work and old tiles in a garden alcove, watched over by a small saint. — The Mosaic Niche The Gardens

Camellia Season — The winter walks bloom red and pink while the rest of Europe sleeps. — Camellia Season The Gardens

The Archive

How earlier centuries saw the estate — paintings, prints and engravings.

The Yellow Palace — An early painting of the estate: the palace in ochre, the great cork oak already old. — The Yellow Palace The Archive

As 1864 Saw It — The palace as the Archivo Pittoresco engraved it — already romantic, already a little dreamt. — As 1864 Saw It The Archive

Nestled in the Serra — A 19th-century print: the estate disappears into its own greenery, as it was meant to. — Nestled in the Serra The Archive

Photographs are from the estate's own collection. The 1864 engraving is public domain.