The beautiful monuments of Sintra figured highly in last year’s “most-visited” list. The medieval hillside’s lush park and Pena palace topped the list with a record 787,163 visitors, pipping other well-known sites like the Jerónimos Monastery and Belém Tower to first place, while Sintra’s national palace came in fourth position with 393,059 visitors.
Also in the Top 10 most visited Portuguese culture spots was another Sintra specialty – the Moorish Castle. According to administrators, the bulk of visitors (90%) were foreigners – a fifth of whom came from Spain – with Brazilians, Asians and Eastern Europeans showing ever-increasing interest.
In all, 2013 saw 2,563,059 visitors to monuments and museums around the country, while Sintra’s sites saw a combined total of 1,705,724 tourists.
Photo: Sintra’s Palácio da Pena
