UNESCO Heritage – Sintra
A train journey to the “Capital of Romance”
The writer Virgílio Ferreira said, "Sintra is the only place in the country where history has made itself a garden". Eça de Queiroz added, "Everything in Sintra is divine. There is no corner that isn't a poem". Many other Portuguese and foreign writers have referred to this beautiful place in their own way. Hans Christian Andersen wrote: "The whole mountain path is a garden, where nature and art are marvellously combined, the most beautiful walk imaginable".
The town of Sintra, known in distant times as "Serra da Lua", saw its cultural landscape classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1995, emphasising its universal value as a pioneer in Romantic landscaping.
The Cultural Landscape includes religious and military architecture, monuments and archaeological remains, parks and patches of forest such as the Pena and Monserrate parks, the historical centre and Arabic architecture through heritage sites such as the Pena Palace or Quinta da Regaleira.
To visit Sintra is to visit a place full of history, with a unique gastronomy that ranges from Colares wine and Negrais suckling pig to local pastries.
