Place · Portugal
The history of Sintra
Assembled from 35 dug tiles · 456 sourced records · 9222 BC–now · last reviewed 29 October 2026
Sintra gathers a dolmen-studded hillside, a Moorish hilltop fortress, royal palaces that held both a king's birth and his imprisonment, a town jail turned post office, and a dictator's summer house where a decade of planning led to power, into one record of ground held by farmers, friars, Moors, monarchs and resort-builders in turn.
These are the individual spots Strata has dug in Sintra — not a guide to the town, but a record of what happened on particular ground.
Digs in Sintra
A fire and rescue training groundThis point sits inside a training compound run by Portugal's national fire service, ENB, on the edge of Sintra. Rua Doutor António Macieira
1200 BC–1974 Sintra's town hall, built in a royal style
This point looks onto the Câmara Municipal de Sintra, a neo-Manueline building on the edge of the old town, still Sintra's working town hall. Câmara Municipal de Sintra
4000 BC–2011 A 19th-century palace, now a museum
This point sits inside Monserrate Palace, an eclectic estate near Sintra, built as the summer home of an English textile millionaire. Monserrate Palace
1540–now A former prison, now a post office
You're standing at the old Sintra town jail, now the local post office. Cadeia da Vila de Sintra
2835 BC–1979 The house where a comeback was planned
Beginning in 1958, an ousted rector used his Linhó summer home to plot his return to power, thirty paces from where you stand. Linhó
1301–now Where the dead were laid under stone
A burial chamber built for the dead five thousand years ago stands on the hillside above you.
100 BC–2025 The plotting room of Portugal's last dictatorship
An ousted politician's summer house, half a mile from where you stand, became the staging ground for a decade of planning before he seized power.
1432–now A wooded hillside in the Sintra hills
This point sits on a quiet stretch above Sintra, close to a cluster of 19th-century estates and parks.
5000 BC–1953 Wooded hillside outside Sintra
This point sits on a quiet slope above Sintra, close to a cluster of old estates and palaces.
1154–now A Gothic Revival estate, now a museum
This point sits inside Quinta da Regaleira, a palace and park near Sintra built for a man who collected secrets. Quinta da Regaleira
100 BC–1998 A medieval royal palace, now a museum
This point sits inside the [[Sintra National Palace Sintra National Palace
1200 BC–1949 A tomb older than Rome
At 1,129 feet from where you stand, people raised a stone tomb before history was written down.
5000 BC–1966 Open ground near Linhó
You're standing on open ground about half a mile outside Linhó, an affluent village in the hills above Sintra.
1200 BC–2025 A Neoclassical palace garden, now a hotel
This point sits at the edge of the Jardins de Seteais, the grounds of a pink 18th-century palace in Sintra. Jardins de Seteais
5000 BC–1982 A Romantic palace on a mountaintop ruin
Pena Palace is a 19th-century palace built over a ruined monastery in the Sintra Mountains, now a museum. Pena Palace
700–1979 A Moorish hilltop fortress, now a ruin
This point sits at the Castle of the Moors, a stone fortress built by North African Moors above Sintra. Castle of the Moors
2835 BC–2013 A friars' convent built into bare granite
This point marks the Convent of the Capuchos, a tiny 16th-century monastery wedged among boulders in the hills above Sintra. Convent of the Capuchos
2200 BC–2025 The stones nobody could explain
A Copper Age tomb stands in open fields a few minutes northeast of where you are standing.
100 BC–now Sintra's neo-Manueline town hall
You're standing about 80 meters from the Câmara Municipal de Sintra, the working seat of Sintra's town government. Câmara Municipal de Sintra
9222 BC–2011 A Dutch consul's mansion in Sintra
You're standing at the gates of Seteais Palace, a pink Neoclassical palace now run as a luxury hotel. Seteais Palace
4500 BC–1966 A 19th-century stone fountain
This point sits about 300 feet from the Chafariz do Cacém, a fountain built to supply water to Cacém. Chafariz do Cacém
100 BC–now An avenue above the Atlantic coast
You're standing on a quiet avenue above Colares, close to Sintra's old megalithic coastline. Avenida Eugene Levy
3022 BC–2015 A street in Algueirão
This point sits on a residential street in Algueirão, a parish of Sintra first recorded in 1962. Rua Camilo Castelo Branco
100 BC–1980 Hillside above a resort village
You're on a quiet stretch of ground above Linhó, an affluent village known for its gated resorts. Avenida de Cascais
1200–1980 A farm colony for vagrants became a modern prison
Above Avenida de Cascais, a 1912 law to reform the homeless through labour left behind the walls of the Estabelecimento Prisional de Sintra. Avenida de Cascais
1200 BC–1980 The exile who came here to die
An arresting fact about a life that ended a short walk from this point. Alameda da Fonte Velha
800 BC–1974 The king locked in his own family's house
A little over half a mile from here, a mad king spent nine years shut inside the palace that killed his own brother later.
9222 BC–2016 A quiet corner of Sintra's hills
You're standing on a hillside near Abrunheira, a small settlement in the hills above Sintra.
1293–now The politician who plotted his comeback here
An ousted rector used his summer house a few streets from here to plan his rise to Prime Minister.
3500 BC–1903 A former parish on Lisbon's edge
This point sits in Cacém, a working district on the northwest edge of Lisbon, inside the municipality of Sintra. Freguesia de Cacém
100 BC–now The house where a comeback was planned
A quarter mile from this point, an ousted professor turned a summer villa into the staging ground for Portugal's last dictatorship. Alameda do Linhó
1550–1996 The dolmen farmers spent a century stealing
A Neolithic burial chamber near this point spent generations losing its stones to local farms before archaeologists lifted them upright again in 2018. Casal de Cambra
4500 BC–2024 Near a parish church outside Sintra
You're on a quiet stretch of Rio de Mouro, a short walk from the parish church of Nossa Senhora de Belém. Rio de Mouro
500 BC–1989 Continental Europe's westernmost point
You're standing near the lighthouse at Cabo da Roca, the point where mainland Europe runs out of land. Cabo da Roca Lighthouse
100 BC–1758 A consort king died on this street in 1786
Steps from where you stand, Pedro III, husband and uncle to a queen, spent his last years and died in a house at Sintra. Rua Dona Maria II
1900–1956
Sintra in layers
9222 BC - 8629 BC
A separate sample about half a kilometer away carries a radiocarbon date of 9222 to 8629 BC, among the oldest human traces recorded near this ground. OpenContext / ICEN-92
9222 BC – 8629 BC
A radiocarbon date of roughly 9222–8629 BC, about a kilometer from this spot, points to people in this landscape at the end of the last Ice Age. Open Context / p3k14c
5th millennium BCE
Digs at the Church of São Pedro de Canaferrim turned up Neolithic artefacts, including a complete ceramic vessel from the 5th millennium BC, showing people lived and were buried on this ground long before the Romans arrived. Itinerary for the Historic Centre of Sintra (Parques de Sintra)
Neolithic to Chalcolithic periods
Five kilometers northwest, a Neolithic artificial cave and a Chalcolithic beehive tomb were excavated from 1969 onward, showing burial and habitation across both periods. Prehistoric Portugal / Wikipedia
Neolithic
Portugal's national archaeology register lists a Neolithic settlement site at Quinta da Penha Verde, a little over half a kilometer from here. Endovélico — Direção-Geral do Património Cultural
Neolithic period
Just under 300 meters away, the Quinta da Penha Verde site has yielded evidence of a Neolithic settlement, among the oldest traces of people in the area. Endovélico — Sistema de Informação Arqueológica
Late Neolithic, c. 4500–2000 BC
The Anta das Pedras Grandes, a Late Neolithic dolmen built between roughly 4500 and 2000 BC, stands about a kilometer from this spot in Odivelas municipality. Wikipedia
Late Neolithic
A Neolithic dolmen excavated near Agualva, in Sintra, at the end of the 19th century held human bones from an early phase of megalithic burial practice in western Iberia. ResearchGate: The forgotten bones of the dolmen of Carrascal
Neolithic
The Anta de Adrenunes, a Stone Age megalithic burial chamber, sits on a hilltop 426 meters up in the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, built for Neolithic funerary ritual. Wikipedia: Anta de Adrenunes
Chalcolithic period
About 2.3 kilometers away at Várzea de Manique, archaeologists recorded a Copper Age (Chalcolithic) settlement, among the oldest traces of people in this stretch of Sintra. Endovélico — Sistema de Informação Arqueológica
3336–2932 BC
A nearby sample, BETA-228583, pushes the dated activity on this ground back to between 3336 and 2932 BC. OpenContext / p3k14c radiocarbon dataset
3085–2889 BC
A radiocarbon sample taken about a kilometer away, cataloged as BETA-239755, dates human activity on this ground to between 3085 and 2889 BC. OpenContext / p3k14c radiocarbon dataset
Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods
The Outeiro das Mós tholos, a Neolithic artificial cave later turned into a Chalcolithic beehive tomb, holds burials radiocarbon-dated to around 3022 BC, just 50 meters from where you stand. Praia das Maçãs Prehistoric Monument, Wikipedia
2835 BC - 2344 BC
A dated sample from the local Chalcolithic era, about 941 meters away, places people on this ground between 2835 and 2344 BC. OpenContext / ICEN-1275
2835 BC–2344 BC
Carbon dating from sites near Sintra has produced results as old as 2835 to 2344 BC and even further back, to around 9222 to 8629 BC, from material gathered a short distance from town. OpenContext / p3k14c radiocarbon dataset
2835–2344 BC
A carbon-dated sample less than a kilometer away puts people on this ground in the Chalcolithic, between 2835 and 2344 BC. Cross-referenced p3k14c (OpenContext)
2835 BC – 2344 BC
A radiocarbon sample from around 2835–2344 BC, taken about 1.2 kilometers away, shows people working this valley in the Copper Age. Open Context / p3k14c
2835 BC to 2344 BC
A dated sample from a little over a kilometer away shows people were on this ground thousands of years before the castle's first stone was laid. Cross-referenced p3k14c / Open Context
2200 BC–1500 BC
The Tholos do Monge, a Bronze Age megalithic chamber tomb, lies about 1.1 kilometers away in the Sintra hills. Wikidata
2199 BC to 1830 BC
A radiocarbon sample from the Praia das Maçãs tomb complex dates human remains there to between 2199 and 1830 BC. Open Context / Cross-referenced p3k14c
1200 BC–700 BC
Survey records list a Late Bronze Age deposit on Monte do Sereno, nearly two kilometers from here, among the oldest attested human traces in the area. Endovélico — Sistema de Informação Arqueológica
1200 BC–700 BC
Before any castle stood there, the Castelo dos Mouros hill was the site of a Late Bronze Age settlement, recorded by Portugal's archaeological survey. Endovélico — Sistema de Informação Arqueológica
Castelo dos Mouros, Sintra
Archaeologists recorded a late Bronze Age settlement, Castelo dos Mouros, on the hill that later carried the Moorish fortress above Sintra. Endovélico — Sistema de Informação Arqueológica
Late Bronze Age
The Castle of the Moors hill, overlooking the palace, was the site of a late Bronze Age settlement centuries before any Moorish fortification was built there. Endovélico — Sistema de Informação Arqueológica, Castelo dos Mouros
Questions about Sintra
What is Sintra known for historically?
Sintra is known for its cluster of palaces and royal ground: the Sintra National Palace, held by Moorish governors until Afonso Henriques claimed it in 1147 and later home to a king born and imprisoned within its own rooms; the Castle of the Moors, built in the 8th or 9th century; and Pena Palace, raised from 1838 over a ruined monastery founded in 1503.
What happened at Sintra National Palace?
The Sintra National Palace held Afonso VI as a prisoner from 1667, declared unfit to rule by his brother Pedro, until his death there in 1683. Pedro himself, as consort king, later died on a nearby street in 1786, and the palace itself was rebuilt chiefly under João I and Manuel I before becoming a museum in 1910.
What older, prehistoric sites survive around Sintra?
Several prehistoric structures remain, including the Late Neolithic dolmen Anta das Pedras Grandes near Casal de Cambra, stripped for farm walls over generations before being raised upright again in 2018, and the Pedras da Granja dolmen, dated to roughly 3000–2000 BC and recorded under reference CNS 91.
What happened at Sintra's old jail?
The Cadeia da Vila de Sintra served as the town jail from 1822 until 1911, when it was converted into a post, telegraph and telephone station by architect A. Marques da Silva. It once held men suspected in a 1908 plot against the king and shared a wall with the adjoining clock tower.
Who planned a political comeback in Sintra?
Marcelo Caetano, forced from his post as Rector of the University of Lisbon in 1962, used his summer house in Linhó from 1958 to plan his return to power, becoming Portugal's prime minister in 1968 and ruling until the Carnation Revolution of 1974 ended his government.
What later estates and palaces grew up around Sintra?
Seteais Palace began as the mansion of Dutch consul Daniel Gildemeester, built 1783–1787, later becoming a luxury hotel in 1954. Monserrate Palace was rebuilt between 1858 and 1865 for English textile millionaire Francis Cook, and Quinta da Regaleira was built 1904–1910 for collector António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro, laced with Masonic symbolism.