SUN AND SIGHTS IN LISBON

Sun and Sights in Lisbon
Sintra
Practical information
Tourist information
• Praça da República 23, Sintra
• 21 923 11 57
• Sintra lies 30 km 18 miles northwest of Lisbon.
Trains run frequently from Lisbon’s Rossio Station
Top tips
• Sintra’s romantic and refreshing qualities may be
seriously challenged on summer weekends, when
tour groups and locals collide in the square in front
of the Palácio Nacional. Go during the week, and
avoid the middle of the day in summer.
• Centrally placed bars and cafés in the old town
fill up quickly and charge inflated prices. For a
different atmosphere, walk past the Tourist Office
to Lawrence’s Hotel and have a drink in one of its
small, colonial-cosy public rooms.
Art Migration
Sintra’s Museu de Arte Moderna, a partnership
between Madeiran art collector José Berardo and
Sintra municipality, has lost its jewels. The Berardo
collection, one of the biggest private collections of
modern art in the world and the Modern Art
Museum’s raison d’être, is from 2007 on display
at the Centro Cultural de Belém , in the process
displacing the lauded Museu do Design. This
change follows a long campaign by Berardo to find
a permanent home for his collection in Portugal.
Belém: Sights
1
Mosteiro dos Jerónimos
Portugal’s greatest national monument is
emblematic of the country’s Manueline style. Dom
Manuel I built the monastery and abbey in the early 16th
century, in thanks for Portugal’s voyages of maritime
discovery (see Mosteiro dos Jerónimos ).
2
Museu de Arqueologia
Housed in the west wing of the Mosteiro dos
Jerónimos, this museum exhibits Portuguese
archeological finds from the Iron Age onwards.
➤ Praça do Império • Map A6 • 21 362 00 00 • Open
10am–6pm Tue–Sun • Adm charge
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3
Museu da Marinha
The naval museum in
the west wing of the
Mosteiro dos Jerónimos covers shipbuilding and
navigation.
➤ Praça do Império • Map A6 • 21 362 00 19 • Open
10am–5pm (6pm in summer) Tue–Sun • Adm charge
4
Torre de Belém
For many, this perfectly proportioned defensive
tower is the masterpiece of the Manueline style. When
built in 1515–20, it was almost mid-stream in the Tejo;
land on the right bank was later reclaimed (see Torre de
Belém ).
5
Palácio de Belém
Dating from the 16th century but much altered by
Dom João V in the 18th century, this elegant palace is
the working residence of Portugal’s president.
➤ Praça Afonso de Albuquerque • Map A6 • 21 361 46
00 • Open 11am–5pm Sat (guided visit) • Free
6
Museu dos Coches
Lisbon’s popular museum of historic coaches is
housed in the former riding school of the Palácio de
Belém (see Museu Nacional dos Coches ).
7
Centro Cultural de Belém
Constructed for use during Portugal’s 1992 EU
presidency, the CCB now houses the Berardo Collection
of Modern Art, among other things.
Padrão dos
Descobrimentos
Created in 1960 for the
500th anniversary of the
death of Henry the
Navigator, this monument is
in the form of the prow of a
ship and incorporates the heroes of the Discoveries. The
pavement compass and map trace their exploits.
➤ Avenida de Brasília • Map B6 • 21 303 19 50 • Open
9am–5pm (7pm in summer) Tue–Sun • Adm charge for
lift
9
Jardim Museu Agrícola Tropical
This garden of tropical trees and plants – the
research centre of the Institute for Tropical Sciences –
is an oasis in the tourist bustle of Belém.
➤ Largo dos Jerónimos • Map B5–6 • 21 362 02 10 •
Open 10am–5pm Mon–Fri; 11am–6pm Sat & Sun • Adm
charge
10
Palácio da Ajuda
The Neo-Classical palace in Ajuda was left
unfinished in 1807 when the royal family was forced into
exile in Brazil.
➤ Calçada da Ajuda • Map B5 • 21 363 70 95 • Open
10am–5pm Thu–Tue • Adm charge
Excursions
1
Sintra hills
The romantic beauty of Sintra and its palaces, the
crumbling walls veiled with moss, the views, the winding
roads under dense canopies of leaves, the smell of the
8
16
Must See Sights