Sintra
Amoret
Fri 10 Oct 2008 18:20
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A small low pressure area off the Portuguese
coast produced some very strong winds today so we decided to do another inland
visit - this time to Sintra. On the way down to Cascais we had seen a
jagged ridge leading down to Cabo da Roca. On and beyond this ridge is Sintra,
established by the moors as a summer retreat and subsequently used by the
Portuguese kings. All this is an easy bus ride from Cascais and, once
there, there is a very convenient bus linking the various sites which we could
join and leave whenever we liked. We visited two of the selection. First we
walked up steep, rocky paths to the 9th century moorish citadel that straddles
the crest of the ridge - we has seen this from the sea on the way down. It was
an awesome ruin, providing a marvellous view over the sea to the west, the
Portuguese interior to the east and the Tejo estuary and the outkirts of Lisbon
to the south. After this we went to the palace used by the Portuguese kings,
which felt much more alive. Possibly the prize exhibit was a large room
with a ceiling covered in painted magpies each with the motto 'por
bem' held in its bill. The under-story is that the king had been caught by his
wife grappling a court lady. He had the ceiling painted to remind all the
court ladies who gossiped about it (each represented by a magpie) that
discretion was the better part of virtue.
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