Pena National Palace

Pena National Palace is a palace in the Sintra Mountains to the northwest of Lisbon. The palace's history dates back to the middle ages when a chapel was built. In the 16th century a monastery was built on the mountaintop. In the 18th century the monastery was damaged by lightning and in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 the structure was reduced to ruins. The site remained in ruins until 1838 when then Prince Ferdinand (later Ferdinand II) acquired the site and commissioned German architect, Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege to build a castle.

The palace was classified a World Heritage Site in 1995 by UNESCO.