The palace was built in 1856 under the English architect James T. Knowles project for Cook family's summer residence The basis were ruins of a neo-Gothic mansion built by Gerard Visme in the eighteenth century. In the year 1540 it was built the chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Montserrat [funny how the buildings begin always with chapels in honor of some saint or religious order], on the hill of the palace. In 1601, the property passes to the Mello e Castro family, and in 1718, D. Caetano de Mello and Castro [who just happened to be the Viceroy of India] acquires the fifth, and the Lisbon earthquake made it uninhabitable. In 1790, Gerard Visme lease the fifth and built the first neogothic palace on the ruins of the chapel, then in 1793, William Beckford [one more curiosity: was a writer, known to be the richest young man of his time, (not bad)], leases the fifth, performs works in the palace and begin to create a landscaped garden. In 1856, Sir Francis Cook acquires the fifth and promotes the reconstruction of the palace and gardens.
The State acquires Monserrate park, totaling 143 hectares in 1949 and in the year of 1995, UNESCO ranks the Serra de Sintra, where is located Monserrate, like Cultural Landscape - Heritage of Humanity.
The park is one of the most beautiful landscaping creations of Romanticism conducted by Sir Francis Cook. This property houses an outstanding collection of botanical species from around the world, making spectacular scenery along winding paths between ruins and lakes.
Now that we've talked a bit about the history of the park and the palace, I will tell you about the adventure Mena and I had [see it as a sort of virtual tour].
Well, we initiated our journey through the park by the left side toward the Hippocrene (lake with the name of a source of ancient Greece). For now we go down, always down and then ... UP once again I repeat the importance of water and comfortable shoes. We follow the route in a continuous zigzag, through the Valley of the Ferns up to the Chapel. We continued to go down to the Japanese garden (always surrounded by shadow, thank God, since it was an unbearable heat), a tour full of aromas and natural sounds, which basically give us a sense of calm and peace.
We continue towards the Mexico garden, past lagoons that give the landscape another charm. Now that we have reached the bottom of the garden, it's time to climb, always zigzaging, past the rose garden (which in my opinion is a bit disappointing compared to the rest of the garden).
Rising and continuing to decrease the distance to the palace, here we envision a breathtaking scenario, an extensive lawn, well maintained (which according to history was the first planted in Portugal), and at the top the palace.
We ascend a bit more (although the body was already showing signs of fatigue), behold, we have come to the rear of the palace, whose exterior has left us delighted and inside (although no furniture, except for the library), gives us the feeling of being in another time and space (perhaps India or Morocco).
Gone through the interior of the Palace, our exit was actually through the main entrance of the palace, which continues to nourish our amazement.
Just have not seen the stone house, the greenhouse and nurseries, because there was still one more stop to make.
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