A FAIRY'S LAKE....

Sintra - A PLACE LIKE A FAIRY TALE.......

Sintra and its mystical hills dotted with fairytale palaces and extravagant villas have bewitched visitors for centuries.

The Romans made it a place of cult moon worshiping and named it "Cynthia" after the goddess of the moon.
They were followed by the Moors who also fell in love with the lush vegetation and built a hilltop castle, a palace, and several fountains around the town. Later it became the summer residence of the Portuguese royal family and attracted a number of wealthy aristocrats who built huge mansions and villas.

Famous British poet and traveler Lord Byron stopped by in the 18th century, writing that the town is "perhaps in every respect the most delightful in Europe," and calling it a "glorious Eden" in his epic poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.
His fellow countryman Robert Southey followed him and saw it as "the most blessed spot on the whole inhabitable globe."
Others made it their own private retreat, such as William Beckford (one of 18th century England's wealthiest men), who lived in the splendid Monserrate Palace, later bought by Francis Cook.
It is indeed an extraordinary place with a surreal mixture of history and fantasy, protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.