Saturday, July 27, 2013

Midnight postcard of Palácio Nacional da Pena in Portugal


For you night owls here in North America, here's an undated color postcard of Palácio Nacional da Pena (Pena National Palace), which dates to the first half of the 19th century and is the youngest of the Seven Wonders of Portugal.

The site was originally a monastery, which was greatly damaged by an earthquake in 1755 and rendered uninhabitable. In the 1830s, according to Wikipedia:
"King Ferdinand ... set out to transform the remains of the monastery into a palace that would serve as a summer residence for the Portuguese royal family. The commission for the Romantic style rebuilding was given to Lieutenant-General and mining engineer Baron Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege. Eschwege, a German amateur architect, was much traveled and likely had knowledge of several castles along the Rhine river. The construction took place between 1842–1854 ... [T]he King suggested vault arches, Medieval and Islamic elements be included."
Shown in this postcard are the Arches Yard, chapel and clock tower at the palace, which sits on a hill above Sintra, Portgual, and can be seen for miles around.

Here are a couple more public-domain images of the palace from Wikipedia:



I think this would be the perfect spot to hold the first Papergreat Meet-Up, don't you? I'll make some calls.

1 comment:

  1. The commission for the Romantic style rebuilding was given to Lieutenant-General and mining engineer Baron Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege. Eschwege, a German amateur architect, was much traveled and likely had knowledge of several castles along the Rhine river. Portugal Properties

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