Sintra

**Cultural Landscape of Sintra**¹
**UNESCO World Heritage Site**

State Party	Portugal
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iv, v
Identification	#723
Region²	Europe and North America
Inscription History
Formal Inscription:	1995 19th WH Committee Session
WH link:	http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/723
1 Name as officially inscribed on the WH List 2 As classified officially by UNESCO

Sintra (pron. IPA: ['sĩtɾɐ]) is both a town and a municipality in Portugal, located in the district of Lisbon. The town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on account of its 19th century Romantic architecture.

It has become a major tourist attraction, with many day-trippers visiting from nearby Lisbon. Attractions include the fabulous Pena Palace (19th c.) and the Castelo dos Mouros (reconstructed 19th c.) with a breath-taking view of the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, and the summer residence of the kings of Portugal Palácio Nacional de Sintra (largely 15th/16th c.), in the town itself. Also, the whole granite Sintra Mountain Range (Serra de Sintra) is also a tourist attraction, being one of the biggest green parks in the Lisbon Area.

1 History
2 Geography and economy
3 Civil parishes
4 Transports
5 Town twinning
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] History

Monserrate Palace.

The town was already described in the 11th century by the Arab geographer Al-Bacr and later by the poets Luís de Camões and Lord Byron (Childe Harold's Pilgrimage - 1809). The Moors built the Castelo dos Mouros in the 8th or 9th century. When Afonso Henriques, with the aid of Crusaders, recaptured Sintra in 1147, much of the castle was destroyed. Only four square towers, the battlements, and the ruins of a Romanesque chapel survived.

In 1493, Christopher Columbus sailing for the Spanish crown, was blown off course by gail force winds and fearing for the survival of his ship, spotted the Rock of Sintra. Despite the awkwardness of seeking safe harbor in Portugal, Columbus had no choice under the circumstances and sailed from there into the Port of Lisbon.

In 1507 Diogo Boitac built the Hieronymite monastery of Nossa Senhora da Pena on the nearby hilltop. In 1527 king Manuel I commissioned to Nicolau Chanterene the large, white marble and alabaster altarpiece for the chapel. This retable is his finest work.

[edit] Geography and economy

Major activities in the area are commerce and tourism. Tourists are drawn by the cultural heritage in the town itself, and Sintra-Cascais Natural Park which encompasses the Serra de Sintra and extends to the the coastal beaches of the municipality and Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe, which lies 18 kilometres west of Sintra.

[edit] Civil parishes

Major towns in the municipality are Algueirão-Mem Martins with 65,546, Agualva-Cacém with 55,762, Rio de Mouro with 46,023, Massamá with 28,174, Queluz with 27,910 and Monte Abraão with 22,039. Sintra is unique in the concelhos of Portugal in having the municipality seat in a town, despite having two cities in the municipality (Agualva-Cacém and Queluz), this is due to historical importance of Sintra, its desire to keep has a town and the cities in its municipalities are, in fact, bedroom communities.

Agualva
Algueirão-Mem Martins
Almargem do Bispo
Belas
Cacém
Casal de Cambra
Colares
Massamá
Mira-Sintra
Monte Abraão
Montelavar
Pero Pinheiro
Queluz
Rio de Mouro
São João das Lampas
São Marcos
Sintra (Santa Maria e São Miguel)
Sintra (São Martinho)
Sintra (São Pedro de Penaferrim)
Terrugem

Palace in Queluz.

Sintra Palace.

[edit] Transports

Some areas close to Lisbon are essentially residential suburbs already in conurbation with Amadora, Odivelas and Lisbon. According to recent statistics, Sintra's suburban railway is the most crowded suburban train system in Europe. Sintra's problems include major pendular movements to Lisbon, with terrible traffic during rush hour on the IC-19 road to Lisbon.