Palace of Pena
Buried beneath the romantic exotica of Pena Palace lies a very different story-
Quinta da Regaleira
Elyn Aviva
The Regaleira Estate includes a palace and chapel, grottoes, tunnels, towers, a ziggurat, elaborate fountains, and an initiatic well.
“It seems both larger and smaller than it really is, an elaborate stage set built into and out of the natural landscape. As you follow the winding paths through the grounds of the estate, reality blurs with illusion, and soon you have crossed into the Imaginal Realm, a place where nothing is what it seems. That towering tree trunk? A disguised incinerator chimney. That ancient, moss-covered dolmen? An artfully arranged, modern pile of boulders. Wander through the park as a tourist, or enter into an initiatic journey. The choice is yours.” —Elyn
The Regaleira Estate includes a palace and chapel, grottoes, tunnels, towers, a ziggurat, elaborate fountains, an initiatic well, lakes, a plethora of statuary, and extensive gardens. It may seem at first like a miniature Euro-Disneyland, built to entertain, but it is, in fact, a carefully orchestrated symbolic landscape. It was constructed not as a tourist attraction but for the owner’s personal use, a manifestation of his deeply held philosophical beliefs.
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Alto da Vigia
Alto da Vigia is the site of a monumental Roman sanctuary from the 2nd–3rd centuries CE.
