The Chalet of the Countess
You’ve probably heard about Sintra before. Owing to its 19th-century Romantic architecture and landscapes, it has become a major tourist centre, visited by many day-trippers who travel from the urbanized suburbs and capital of Lisbon.
Besides the mountains and the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, the landscape is punctuated by royal estates, retreats, small castles and buildings from the 8th-9th century, along with many others completed between the 15th and 19th century. This includes places like Castelo dos Mouros (Castle of the Moors), taken by Christian forces from the Moors after the fall of Lisbon it was an important strategic point during the Reconquista, as well as the Pena National Palace, a Romanticist palace standing on top of a hill above the town of Sintra that is a national monument and sometimes even used by the President of the Portuguese Republic and other governament officials.
It’s a truly beautiful place, very much a natural sanctuary in the Lisbon area, even though it has seen a growth of population in the past years in which tourism has contributed quite a fair bit.
Many buildings in the area are old and have a deep history associated with them, sometimes a tragic one. The Chalet da Condessa d’Edla (Edla’s Countess Chalet) (GPS: Lat: 38º47’06.45 N
Long: 9º23’57.95 W) is one of them. Built by king D. Fernando II of Portugal and his second wife Elise Hensler, the Countess, between 1864 and 1869, on the western area of Pena’s Natural Park. It was built facing the Pena National Palace. After the death of the king the Chalet, the Palace and the properties surrounding the same were left to the Countess. This was later disputed by king D. Luís and it was eventually agreed that the Countess would only make use of the Chalet and the surrounding gardens. In 1999, abandoned for quite some time, the build was subject to arson, which destroyed the beautiful interior leaving only bland and charred walls. In 2007 a project was started to bring new life to the building, a thorough restauration was in order to make right what was done wrong by human action. The work is complete and the Chalet is back to its previous splendour. The visit is not free however and a ticket to visit will cost you 9,50€ (+5€ if you want a guided tour) and it’s open for visit from 9:30am to 7pm.
There are not only things to see but things to taste as well. You should never visit Sintra without trying out the delicious Travesseiros and Queijadas de Sintra, most specifically the ones made by Sapa (GPS). As you probably know by now (you’ve at least tried Pastéis de Belém right? Well if you haven’t you should), our pastry is really unique and delicious and you’ll probably want to buy a few more to take home with you.
Getting to Sintra is easy if you’re in Lisbon as all you have to do is go to the Rossio train station and buy a ticket towards Sintra. The price of the ticket is 3,60€ and there’s a train leaving every 20 to 30 minutes depending on the day.
With all the planning don’t forget to have fun and experience every little second of your holidays, take pictures of the beautiful scenery and remember the taste of the food. After a day of exploring there’s nothing like coming back to Lisbon and resting with us here at The Elevator Hostel.
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