Sintra’s stunning Pena Palace has been named Europe’s “best castle” by online travel portal European Best Destinations.
The palace ranks at the top of a list of ‘Top castles to be conquered in Europe’, leaving behind other iconic monuments such as the Alcazar Castle (Spain) and the Windsor Castle (England).
“Located in the Sintra hills, the Park and Palace of Pena are the fruit of King Ferdinand II’s creative genius and the greatest expression of 19th-century romanticism in Portugal, denoting clear influences from the Manueline and Moorish styles of architecture,” reads the article.
As the travel organisation – which is based in Brussels and was developed to promote culture and tourism in Europe – explains, the palace was built “to be visible from any point in the park, which consists of a forest and luxuriant gardens with over 500 different species of trees originating from the four corners of the earth.”
The full list is as follows:
1- Pena Palace (Portugal)
2- Alcazar Castle (Spain)
3- Neuschwanstein Castle (Germany)
4- Hohenzollern Castle (Germany)
5- Walzin Castle (Belgium)
6- Eltz Castle (Germany)
7- Chateau of Chambord (France)
8- Culzean Castle (Scotland)
9- Eilean Dolan Castle (Scotland)
10- Windsor Castle (England)
11- Corvin Castle (Romania)
12- Trevarez Castle (France)
13- Hohenwerfen Castle (Germany)
14- Bran Castle (Romania)
15- Schwerin Castle (Germany)
