QUELUZ PALACE

The building of the palace, designed by Mateus Vicente de Oliveira, began in 1747. Although much smaller, it is frequently called the “Portuguese Versailles”, converted in the late 1700s to a royal summer residence. It’s surrounded by queen-of-hearts formal gardens, with oak-lined avenues, fountains (including the Fonte de Neptuno, ascribed to Italian master Bernini) and an azulejo lined canal where the royals went boating.

One of the wings of the Queluz Palace, the Dona Maria Pavilion, built between 1785 and 1792 and designed by Manuel Caetano de Sousa, is now a guest room for the exclusive use of foreign heads of state visiting Portugal.

PALACE OF THE MARQUESSES OF FRONTEIRA

The Fronteira Palace, also known as the Palace of the Marquesses of Fronteira, is the privately owned property, but parts of it are opened to visits, and only on a tight schedule. 

The palace was built in 1640 for the first Marquis of Fronteira, Dom Joao de Mascarenhas (bestowed with the title of Marquis of Fronteira for his allegiance to King Pedro II of Portugal), in order to serve as hunting pavilion. At present, the oldest part of the castle complex refers to a 16th century chapel, but inside the castle, visitors can admire the stunning Battle Room (which stands out by the splendid tile panels due to which the room has been dubbed the Sistine Chapel of Tile Panels), as well as the Dining Room (with highlights like the paintings signed by Domingos Antonio de Sequeira). Outside the castle, visitors can search out the carefully arranged garden, which fills a surface of some 5.5 hectares, offering the spectacular scenery of the ingeniously cut hedges, tile panels and a statuary where sculptural works rendering the Kings of Portugal (chiefly, busts) are displayed.

Portugal in love: honeymoon in the South and Madeira 8 days

With this romantic program by TravelTailors you will discover themost romantic and secret places of Portugal, in South and Madeira: hotels, palaces, gardens and beaches. It offers you intimate hotels and fine dining. It suggests other activities ideal for two, like cooking classes, SPA and walks; it´s perfect for an incomparable honeymoon in Portugal!

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