Pena Palace, Sintra, Portugal

A monastery of the Order of St Jerome had stood at the peak of the range above Sintra, endowed by Kings John II and Manuel I in the late 15th Century.

It was damaged in the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755, and was ruinous when Ferdinand II, Kong Consort of Queen Maria II acquired it in 1838.

Ferdinand was the cousin on Prince Albert - a member of those dynastic entrepreneurs, the Saxe-Coburg-Gothas. Ferdinand and Maria commissioned a German amateur architect, Baron von Eschwege to construct a Romantic Castle. The King and Queen took a close interest in the design and Ferdinand introduced vaulting and medieval and islamic elements.

In fact the Palace is a profusion of styles - you can identify neo-Gothic, neo-Mauleine, neo-Renaissance and Islamic styles.

In the park Ferdinand planted exotic trees and plants from around the World.