A Royal Residence and an excellence stage of more than eight centuries history, the National Palace of Sintra, with around 400 000 visitors a year, is one of the most visited national monuments and belongs to a patrimonial whole which, in 1995, became part of UNESCO World Heritage as “ Sintra’s Cultural Landscape”.

The Palácio Nacional de Sintra history goes back to the 14th century when the Royal Chapel, was built during the reign of King Dinis I. Through the ages many add-on rooms and buildings were built.

Much of the present building dates from 1415 when King John I initiated a major construction of the building a.k.a. Ala Joanina, around the central courtyard. It is characterised by the main building facade with the entrance arches and the mullioned windows in Manueline and Moorish styles (called ajimezes) and the conical chimneys of the kitchen.

The Palace has these great rooms:
-The Swann's Room (Sala dos Cisnes) in Manueline style.
-Pegas' Room (Sala das Pegas).
-Arab Room (Sala dos Árabes) .