Saint Mammes Chapel
São Mamede de Janas has been sacred for a long time. Local legend asserts that there was a temple dedicated to Diana at the site.
Sanctuary of Our Lady of Peninha
Santuário da Nossa Senhora da Peninha
Elyn AvivaLocated the middle of Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, Peninha is the most western of the peaks on the Monte da Lua.
“I’m shaking, my legs quivering, as I struggle to climb the wide staircase leading up to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Peninha. I don’t like heights, but it’s not just the buffeting wind blowing straight off the Atlantic to this high crag of granite boulders that terrifies me. It’s something else. Maybe it’s the power of the immense jagged rocks on which the chapel is built. Maybe it’s the power of pilgrims’ songs and prayers, reverberating in the stones through the centuries. Or maybe it’s something else, like the reported apparition of the Virgin centuries ago. Suddenly a man appears out of nowhere. He asks me where he is, which is very odd, since you can’t get to Peninha by accident. He sees me trembling and offers to help me up the stairs. He has no fear of heights, he tells me—he’s a paraglider! I imagine him floating down from the sky on wings.” —Elyn
Located the middle of Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, Peninha is the most western of the peaks on the Monte da Lua, the Mountain of the Moon. Peninha means little crag or small rocky outcrop. At an elevation of 448 m (1470 ft), it is a remote, isolated place with extensive views and many reported miracles.
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Biester Palace
Our first visit to Biester Palace
