Palacio Nacional de Queluz, afternoon 10/11/21

 

After lunch, our bus took us to the Palace at Queluz, an 18th Century extravagant estate, home to three generations of Portuguese royal family.  Located outside of Lisbon in the Sintra district, it's supposedly one of the last great Rococo buildings built in Europe.  Our group walked and walked, from one opulent room to another, from one long wing into the next, ogling the styles from Baroque to Rococo and onto Neoclassicism.  Don't get me wrong, neither of us knows the difference, but we could spot obvious changes.  I won't go into the family goings-on, except to tell you that the palace was built as a summer retreat for Dom Pedro of Braganza, later to become husband and then king consort to his own niece, Queen Maria I.

Palaces:  Large and impressive!

This is known as the Throne Room, largest of the three state rooms, and dates from 1774.  The room was huge and its chandeliers were stunning.

A portrait of Queen Maria.

The Music Room -- Queen Maria's portrait hangs above the harpsichord (left).

One of four giant tiled panels representing the four continents.  This was the only one I could capture due to the lighting, and it's known simply as "Africa."  

I lumped many of the chandeliers into one collage -- otherwise, you'd have a ton of individual fixtures to gaze at.  They were all gorgeous.  Crystal and Murano glass, oh my!

Much of the gold leaf was 18K gold.

Hall of Ambassadors, sometimes called the throne room or the Hall of Mirrors, was designed by Robillon in 1757 and is one of the largest reception rooms in the palace.

I didn't take pictures of all the rooms (didn't have time!), but each was spectacular.  Outside, the grounds were just as photogenic.  Above is the Canal dos Azulejos (Channel of the Tiles) in the Gardens of the Palace.  More than 330 ft long, the walls of the canal are decorated with tiled panels depicting seascapes, etc.  Fed by a stream, the canal actually had sluice gates that were opened only in May for fêtes.  You can just make out some of the tilework; it was too much for the camera!

The Palace is famed for its gardens.

This formal garden is the only one we walked past.

Anytime a place to sit appeared, many of us took advantage!  Above is the south front of the Robillion wing with its Baroque extravagance.  Go ahead, study it -- it's almost whimsical.

Here we are in front of the Nereid sea nymph fountain!

Look at that palace behind us!

I'm sure you all will agree with me that it's amazing what money can buy!  Nowadays it's wonderful that the palace is open to the public for touring.  We were fortunate that we were the only group in attendance.  So ... footsore and weary, we were back on the bus and headed for our hotel.  No one will be surprised to hear there was some sleeping going on in that bus!

Tomorrow morning we'll have our bags packed and in front of our hotel rooms by 8am.  We'll be on our way by 8:30 for more adventures, and moving to a new hotel by nightfall.