Quinta da Regaleira

D. Ermelinda Monteiro de Almeida, Viscountess of Regaleira.

Luxuriant vegetation next to the lower gate.

The land that is now Quinta da Regaleira had many owners over the years. It belonged to the Viscountess of Regaleira, a family of wealthy merchants from Porto, when it was sold in 1892 to Carvalho Monteiro for 25,000 réis. Monteiro was eager to build a bewildering place where he could collect symbols that reflected his interests and ideologies. With the assistance of the Italian architect Luigi Manini, he recreated the 4-hectare estate.

In addition to other new features, he added enigmatic buildings that allegedly held symbols related to alchemy, Masonry, the Knights Templar, and the Rosicrucians. The architecture Manini designed evoked Roman, Gothic, Renaissance, and Manueline styles. The construction of the current estate commenced in 1904 and much of it was completed by 1910.

The estate was later sold in 1942 to Waldemar d'Orey, who used it as private residence for his extensive family. He ordered repairs and restoration work for the property. In 1987, the estate was sold, once again, to the Japanese Aoki Corporation and ceased to serve as a residence. The corporation kept the estate closed to the public for ten years, until it was acquired by the Sintra Town Council in 1997. Extensive restoration efforts were promptly initiated throughout the estate. It finally opened to the public in June 1998 and began hosting cultural events. In August of that same year, the Portuguese Ministry of Culture classified the estate as "public interest property".

The Regaleira Palace (Portuguese: Palácio da Regaleira) bears the same name as the entire estate. The structure's façade is characterised by exuberantly Gothic pinnacles, gargoyles, capitals, and an impressive octagonal tower.

The palace contains five floors (a ground floor, three upper floors, and a basement). The ground floor consists of a series of hallways that all connect the living room, dining room, billiards room, balcony, some smaller rooms, and several stairways. In turn, the first upper floor contains bedrooms and a dressing room. The second upper floor contains Carvalho Monteiro's office, and the bedrooms of female servants. The third upper floor contains the ironing room and a smaller room with access to a terrace. Finally, the basement contains the male servants' bedrooms, the kitchen (which featured an elevator for lifting food to the ground floor), and storage rooms.

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  The main façade of the palace.
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  The main entrance to the palace.
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  The balcony.
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  Turret with Manueline symbols alluding to the Portuguese discoveries.
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  The fireplace in the dining room.
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  The living room.
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  Entrance to the spiral stairwell.
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  One of the chimneys. The Castle of the Moors and the Pena Palace are visible atop the hills.

The Regaleira Chapel is a Roman Catholic Chapel, and stands in front of the palace's main façade. Its architecture is akin to the palace's. The interior of the chapel is richly decorated with frescoes, stained glass windows and lavish stuccoes. The frescoes contain representations of Teresa of Ávila and Saint Anthony, as well as other religious depictions. Meanwhile, the floor itself offers depictions of the armillary sphere of the Portuguese discoveries and the Order of Christ Cross, surrounded by pentagrams. Despite its relatively small size, the chapel has several floors.

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  The main entrance.
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  The side entrance.
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  Stuccoes above the main entrance.
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  The interior of the chapel.
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  In the fresco above the altar, the resurrected Jesus Christ crowns the Virgin Mary.
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  Frescoes depicting Teresa of Ávila and Saint Anthony (during his "Sermon to the Fish", by Father António Vieira).
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  The floor: Order of Christ Cross over the armillary sphere.
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  Side view of the chapel.

Quinta da Regaleira Diagram. Legend:
Buildings- A) Regaleira Palace; B) Regaleira Chapel; C) Greenhouse; D) Cultursintra Foundation offices; E) Coach Houses; F) Arts Workshop; K) Regaleira Tower;
Open-air structures- G) Chimeras' Court; H) Loggia; I) Ibis Fountain; J) Fountain of Abundance;
Fields- L) Terrace of the Celestial Worlds and Reservoir; M) Guardians' Entrance; N) Threshold of the Gods; O) Tennis Court;
Others- 1) Main gate; 2) Secondary gate; 3) Upper gate; P) Aquarium; Q) Initiation Well; R) Unfinished Well; S) Labyrinthic Grotto; T) Leda's Grotto; W) Eastern Grotto; X) Grotto of the Virgin;
Lakes- U) Unnamed Lake; V) Waterfall Lake;

Much of the four hectares of land in the surrounding estate consists of a densely treed park lined with myriad roads and footpaths. The woods are neatly arranged in the lower parts of the estate, but are left wild and disorganised in the upper parts, reflecting Carvalho Monteiro's belief in primitivism. Decorative, symbolic, and lively structures can be found throughout the park.

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  Gazebo on the ornate bridge over the lower gate.
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  Bench between the lake and the Loggia.
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  Bench between the lake and the Ibis Fountain.
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  Bench between the chapel and the palace.

• Sintra National Palace
• Pena National Palace
• Queluz National Palace
• Monserrate Palace
• Seteais Palace

• Portuguese Association for Investigation
• "Rotas & Destinos" magazine
• Quinta da Regaleira: Sintra Portugal. Fundação Cultursintra
• Anes, José Manuel (1998, interviewed by Victor Mendanha). O Esoterismo da Quinta da Regaleira. Lisbon: Hugin
• Anes, José Manuel (2005). Os Jardins Iniciáticos da Quinta da Regaleira. Lisbon: Ed. Ésquilo
• Adrião, Vitor Manuel (2006). Quinta da Regaleira: A Mansão Filosofal de Sintra. Lisbon: Via Occidentalis Editora
• Veigas, Ana Sofia Fernandes (2007), Para uma Antropologia do Símbolo Estético: o paradigma da Quinta da Regaleira, Lisbon, Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Quinta da Regaleira.

• Quinta da Regaleira homepage
• Portuguese Institute for the Architectonic Heritage (Portuguese)
• Antonio Augusto Carvalho Monteiro-Um Naturalista Pioneiro (Portuguese)