Quinta da Regaleira

Quinta da Regaleira is a palace and park complex near Sintra in Portugal. Named after Baroness Regaleira, who acquired the estate in 1840; it is also known as the palace of the millionaire Monteiro. It is part of the “Sintra Cultural Landscape”, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1995.

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Highlights

To the uninitiated viewer, all the structures in Quinta da Regaleira, even the park’s gazebos and fountains, are decorated only for reasons of artistic value, but an art historian or historian will realize that there is a deep meaning embedded in this blending of ancient cultures.

Thus, the park is arranged in a manner analogous to the Divine Comedy: there is heaven, hell, and purgatory. In the center of the park is a thirty-meter well of initiation, the descent into which passes through nine levels, symbolizing the circles of hell, and at the bottom of it carved Templar cross ─ a symbol of redemption. There are several ways to get out of the bottom of the well, because from the cross there are tunnels leading to different parts of the park. One of the tunnels leads to a small pond covered with cassava, through which there is a path of carelessly thrown stones, through which you can pass only by starting from the left foot.

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On the territory of the estate you can find the Ibis Pavilion (a reference to Egyptian mythology), the terrace of Greek gods, and the symbolism of the Templar Order.

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Owners

Over the centuries these lands have belonged to different people: it is known that in 1697 the territory roughly corresponding to the present-day boundaries of the estate complex belonged to a certain José Leite (port. José Leite). In 1715, Quinta da Torre (port. Quinta da Torre – “tower estate”) was acquired by Francisco Alberto de Castro, who used the mountain springs located here to supply the city fountains of Sintra. In 1830 the Quinta do Castro passed into the hands of Manuel Bernardo, and in 1840 it was acquired by Alain Regaleira, daughter of a wealthy merchant from Porto, who shortly afterwards received the title of Baroness. In 1892, the property was purchased for 25,000 Portuguese reals by the philanthropist and collector Carvalho Monteiro, who brought the area to its present form. In 1942 the estate was sold to Waldemar D’Ori, who used it as a private residence, and in 1987 it became the property of the Japanese corporation Aoki. In March 1996, the Sintra City Council was able to buy the estate, after which active restoration began.

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Creation of the museum

A special foundation, Fundação Cultursintra (officially registered on January 13, 1997), was created to manage the estate, with the Association for the Protection of Sintra’s Cultural Heritage, the Sintra City Council, the Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, the Ministry of Culture, the Catholic University of Portugal and other organizations among its founders. In June 1998, Quinta da Regaleira was opened to the public. In February 2002, the estate was granted monument status.

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History of the buildings

As a member of the Masonic Lodge, Monteiro conceived the idea of ennobling his country estate in such a way that it sivolically reflected his interests and philosophy. To realize these ideas Monteiro engaged the Italian architect Luigi Manini, then working in Portugal. Following the fashion of the time and responding to the client’s needs, Luigi Manini combined in the project stylistic elements of architecture from different eras: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Manuelino. Construction began in 1904 and by 1910 most of the projects had already been realized. The result was a four-story palace and a Catholic chapel, and the surrounding area was transformed into a fantasy “Garden of Eden” spread over four hectares.

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Regaleira Palace

The facade of the four-story palace is richly decorated: it abounds with Gothic turrets, gargoyles and capitals. The structure is crowned by an octagonal tower, under which is the “Cave of Leda”. On the first floor of the palace, which has partially preserved its decorative design, were located living room, dining room, billiard room, closet and bedroom of the master. On the second floor were his study and the bedrooms of the maids. On the third floor there was an ironing room and a small room with access to the terrace, and in the basement there were bedrooms for the male servants, a kitchen with an elevator for bringing food to the first floor, and various storage rooms.

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Chapel

The Roman Catholic chapel is several stories high, located in front of the main facade of the palace and stylistically related to it. The interior of the chapel is richly decorated with stucco, stained glass and frescoes depicting Teresa of Avila, Anthony of Padua and other Catholic saints. On the floor of the chapel is an image of an armillary sphere, a symbol of Portugal’s conquests during the Age of Great Discovery, which is one of the main elements of Portugal’s coat of arms, and the emblem of the Order of Christ enclosed in a pentagram.

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Park

The tiered park, intersected by many paths, is terraced down the slopes of the hill. Its layout and elements conceal symbols associated with various religions and religious cults, alchemy, Freemasonry, the Templar and Rosencreutzer orders and famous literary works.

The upper part of the park is wild and unimproved forest, while the lower part is ennobled by human hands. Along with such “natural” elements of landscape architecture as lakes, canals, grottoes and caves with underground tunnels, the park is decorated with tall towers, arbors, carved benches, and statues.

Well of Dedication

The “Well of Dedication”, going deep into the ground, is surrounded by a spiral gallery decorated with numerous arched openings. The gallery consists of nine spans of fifteen steps each. According to legend, these nine levels symbolize the nine circles of hell, purgatory and paradise described by Dante. At the bottom of the well is the coat of arms of Monteiro, an eight-pointed star in which the Templar cross is inscribed. On the wall is a shining triangle, one of the symbols of Freemasonry. There was an opinion that the well served for religious ceremonies of the Masonic fraternity, but there was no documentary evidence of this.

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Tunnels

The tunnel system has many entrances and exits leading to a chapel, grottos, a lake with a waterfall, and other points of interest. Symbolically they interpret the journey between light and darkness, death and resurrection.

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Aquarium

Water is one of the most important elements of the park – in addition to the canals and fountains, there are two artificial lakes on the grounds. “Aquarium” is designed as if it were a natural part of the rock. This object is currently in a state of conservation.

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Useful information

Quinta da Regaleira Castle is open daily from 10:00 to 17:30, and a visit is included in any tour of Sintra. If you plan to visit the estate on your own, keep in mind that you should allow at least two to three hours for a full tour.

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Familiarization with the castle is absolutely free for both children and adults, but for a guide who will tell you in detail about the meaning of all the sculptures and symbols and the history of the estate will have to pay about $ 10.

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If you are interested in the history of the Masson society and their philosophy, or you sincerely admire neo-Gothic castles, try to visit Quinta da Regaleira in Portugal ─ here you will discover a lot of new things.

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