CINTRA, a town of central Portugal, in the district of Lisbon, formerly included in the province of
Estramadura; 17 m. W.N.W. of Lisbon by the Lisbon-Cagem-Cintra railway, and 6 m. N. by E. of
Cape da Roca, the westernmost promontory of the European mainland.
Pop. (1900) 5914. Cintra is magnificently situated on the northern
slope of the Serra da Cintra, a rugged mountain mass, largely
overgrown with pines, eucalyptus, cork and other forest trees, above which the
principal summits rise in a succession of bare and jagged grey
peaks; the highest being Cruz Alta (1772 ft.), marked by an ancient
stone cross, and commanding a wonderful view southward over Lisbon
and the Tagus estuary, and north-westward over the Atlantic and the plateau of
Mafra. Few European towns
possess equal advantages of position and climate; and every
educated Portuguese is familiar with the verses in which the beauty
of Cintra is celebrated by Byron in Childe Harold (1812),
and by Camoens in the national epic Os Lusiadas (1572).
One of the highest points of the Serra is surmounted by the Palacio
da Pena, a fantastic imitation of a medieval fortress, built on the
site of a Hieronymite convent by the prince consort Ferdinand of SaxeCoburg (d. 1885); while an
adjacent part of the range is occupied by the Castello des Mouros,
an extensive Moorish fortification, containing
a small ruined mosque and a
very curious set of ancient cisterns. The lower slopes of the Serra
are covered with the gardens and villas of the wealthier
inhabitants of Lisbon, who migrate hither in spring and stay until
late autumn.
In the town itself the most conspicuous building is a
14th15th-century royal palace, partly Moorish, partly debased Gothic in style, and remarkable for the two immense conical
chimneys which rise like towers in the midst. The 18th-century
Palacio de Seteaes, built in the French style then popular in
Portugal, is said to derive its name ("Seven Ahs") from a
sevenfold echo; here, on the 22nd
of August 1808, was signed the convention of Cintra, by which the
British and Portuguese allowed the French army to evacuate the
kingdom without molestation. Beside the road which leads for 31 m.
W. to the village of Collares, celebrated for its wine, is the Penha Verde, an interesting country
house and chapel, founded by
Joao de Castro
(150o-1548), fourth viceroy
of the Indies. De Castro also
founded the convent of Santa Cruz, better known as the Convento de
Cortiga or Cork convent, which stands at the western extremity of
the Serra, and owes its name to the cork panels which formerly
lined its walls. Beyond the Penha Verde, on the Collares road, are
the palace and park of Montserrate. The palace was originally built
by William
Beckford, the novelist and traveller (1761-1844), and was
purchased in 1856 by Sir Francis Cook, an Englishman who afterwards obtained the
Portuguese title viscount of Montserrate. The palace, which
contains a valuable library, is built of pure white stone, in
Moorish style; its walls are elaborately sculptured. The park, with
its tropical luxuriance of vegetation and its variety of lake,
forest and mountain scenery, is by far the finest example of
landscape gardening in the Iberian Peninsula, and probably among
the finest in the world. Its high-lying lawns, which overlook the
Atlantic, are as perfect as any in England, and there is one ravine containing a whole wood of giant tree-ferns from New Zealand. Other rare plants have been
systematically collected and brought to Montserrate from all parts
of the world by Sir Francis Cook, and afterwards by his successor,
Sir Frederick Cook, the second viscount. The Praia das Magas, or
"beach of apples," in the centre
of a rich fruit-bearing valley,
is a favourite sea-bathing station, connected with Cintra by an
extension of the electric tramway which runs through the town.
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