The first thing we did in Sintra was visit the National Palace, which is situated right in the town's centre and was originally built by the moors. It's not known exactly when, but there are already references to its existence in the 10th century. However, most of what we can see now dates from the 14th and 15th centuries, when it was extensively rebuilt and enlarged by the king Dom Joao I and his successor, Dom Manuel
La fachada. De afuera no impresiona demasiado.
The façade. From the outside, it's not too impressive.
Ana al pie de la escalera de la entrada. Me llevó un tiempo ablandarla para que apareciera en las fotos, pero van a ver que de ahora en más aparece más seguido! ;-)
Ana at the foot of the entrance stairs. It took me a little while to get her to pose for pictures, but you'll see that from now on she does show up a bit more! ;-)
El palacio está lleno de cuartos así, restaurados de forma impecable, con hermosas paredes de azulejos y muebles que son, cada uno de ellos, obras de arte.
The palace is full of rooms like this, impeccably restored, with beautiful tiled walls and pieces of furniture that are, every single one of them, works of art.
El palacio es hermoso, pero realmente estaba bastante fresquito ahí adentro!
The palace is beatiful, but it was really quite cool in there!
Entre las cosas más impresionantes del palacio están los detalles de los techos. Esta es la Sala dos Cisnes.
Among the most impressive features of the palace are the ceiling decorations. This is the Room of the Swans.
Uno de los patios interiores. Al fondo se ven las chimeneas que se veían el la vista general de Sintra en el post pasado.
One of the courtyards. In the background you can see the chimneys that appeared in the view of Sintra in the last post.
Detalle del techo de la Sala das Pegas (Sala de las Urracas). Según mi guía:
En sus picos sostienen la leyenda "por bem" (honorablemente?) - supuestamente la respuesta dada por Joao I cuando fue sorprendido por su reina, Philippa de Lancaster, besando a una de sus damas de honor. Hizo decorar la sala con tantas urracas como mujeres había en la corte, para satirizar y parar los chismes.Detail from the ceiling of the Sala das Pegas (the Room of the Magpies). According to my guidebook:
They are holding in their beakes the legend "por bem" (in honour) - reputedly the response of Joao I, caught by his queen, Philippa of Lancaster in the the act of kissing a lady-in-waiting. He had the room decorated with as many magpies as there were women at court in order to satirize and put a stop to their gossiping.
Un dormitorio. Primero la cama en sí, y después el detalle de la cabecera y los azulejos de las paredes. Todo espectacularmente elaborado.
A bedroom. First a view of the whole bed and then a detail of the headboard and the wall tiles. Everything wonderfully elaborate.
Más techos: el primero con sirenas, y el segundo con barcos. La mayor parte del palacio se reconstruyó con dinero proveniente de los viajes de exploración de Vasco da Gama, así que los temas náuticos son muy apropiados.
More ceilings: the first with sirens, the second one with ships. Most of the palace was reconstructed with the money generated by Vasco da Gamas voyages of exploration, so the nautical themes are very appropriate.
Vista de los jardines y de la ciudad desde una ventana.
View of the gardens and the city from a window.
Gabinete hecho de maderas nobles, metales preciosos y marfil. Habia varios similares, y me encantaron.
Cabinet made of noble woods, precious metals and ivory. There were several similar ones, and I really liked them.
Este es uno de los salones más espectaculares del palacio, la Sala dos Brasoes (Sala de los Escudos de Armas), en el ala Manuelina (construida por Dom Manuel en el estilo tipo gotico-renacimiento al que dio su nombre).
This is one of the most spectacular rooms in the palace, the Sala dos Brasoes (Room of the Coats-of-Arms), in the Manueline wing (built by Dom Manuel in the gothic-renaissance style named after him.
Más de cerca. En las paredes hay azulejos con escenas de la vida palaciega, y el techo tiene paneles decorativos.
Close-up. The walls are tiled with scenes of palace life and the ceiling has decorative panels.
Una de las escenas de las paredes: un día de caza.
One of the scenes on the walls: a hunt.
El techo: alrededor del centro los escudos de las familias nobles y alreadedor de ellos paneles decorativos.
The ceiling: around the centre the coats of arms of the noble families and around them, decorative panels.
Una más, porque nunca puede haber demasiadas fotos de Rosario parada en un cuarto.
One more, because we can never have enough pictures of Rosario standing in a room.
Salón con regalos traidos de China para una de las reinas: un biombo y una pagoda de marfil, que se mantiene blanca porque nunca fue sacada de su urna de vidrio.
Room with presents brought from China for one of the queens: a screen and an ivory pagoda, which is kept white through never having been removed from its glass urn.
Capilla, con palomas en las paredes.
Chapel, with doves on its walls.
Y terminamos nuestro recorrido en la cocina del palacio.
And we finished our tour in the palace kitchens.
Ahí es donde están las chimeneas cónicas, acá se ve una desde adentro. Muuuy altas!
That's where the conical chimneys are. Here's one from the inside. Very tall!
