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Quinta da Regaleira

This eccentrically decorated palace is replete with grottoes, fountains, tunnels, and caves.

Sintra, Portugal

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geokate
  Susanne Nilsson/CC BY-SA 2.0
The palace's stunning spiral stairway.   Mathias Mahling, Instagram user @glory.of.disrepair
Spiral Stairs   Hanna Vrielink
Please delete   Hanna Vrielink
Tower of the house   Hanna Vrielink
Detail of the garden   Hanna Vrielink
Spiral staircase in the house   Hanna Vrielink
Palácio e Quinta da Regaleira   Jaszmina Szendrey (Atlas Obscura User)
From the bottom up   Catexboom (Atlas Obscura User)
  Rachael Ann Mare
  Rachael Ann Mare
  Rachael Ann Mare
The Quinta   Hanna Vrielink
Grottos   JFish (Atlas Obscura User)
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About

Quinta de Regaleira is a UNESCO World Heritage site designed by Carvalho Monteiro.

Italian architect Luigi Manini designed the four-hectare estate with its enigmatic buildings, believed to hide symbols related to alchemy, Masonry, the Knights Templar, and the Rosicrucians. The architecture of the palace evokes Roman, Gothic, Renaissance and Manueline architectural styles. The construction of the current estate commenced in 1904 and most of it was concluded by 1910.

The gardens are incredibly ornate. Set on a hillside, a multitude of fountains, grottoes, statues, caves, and ponds are connected both above ground via lovely paths and by a series of underground tunnels lit today by strings of Christmas lights. The grounds also include a chapel and an aquarium, built to look as if it naturally existed amongst the rock.

Related Tags

Tunnels Caves Eccentric Homes Follies And Grottoes Subterranean Sites Ecosystems Homes

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Added By

geokate

Edited By

AserHapi, DavideMartini, hrnick, sofiagrossi1...

Published

October 2, 2012

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