Sintra

Infobox_Municipality_pt
official_name = Sintra
image_coat_of_arms = SNT.png

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Region = Lisboa
Subregion = Greater Lisbon
District = Lisbon
Mayor_name = Fernando Seara
Mayor_party = PSD-CDS-PPM-MPT
area_total = 319.2
population_total = 409 482 (2004)
population_density = 1,569
Parishes = 20
coor = 38°47'N 9°22'W
params = 38_47_N_9_22_W
occasion = Saint Peter
day = June 29
website = http://www.cm-sintra.pt
footnotes = Infobox World Heritage Site
WHS = Cultural Landscape of Sintra


State Party = POR
Type = Cultural
Criteria = ii, iv, v
ID = 723
Region = Europe and North America
Year = 1995
Session = 19th
Link = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/723

Sintra (pron. IPA2|'sĩtɾɐ) is both a town and a municipality in Portugal, located in the district of Lisbon. The town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on account of its 19th century Romantic architecture.

The town of Sintra refuses to be promoted to City Status, despite being the center of the second most populated municipality of Portugal.

Sintra has become a major tourist attraction, with many day-trippers visiting from nearby Lisbon. Attractions include the fabulous Pena Palace (19th c.) and the Castelo dos Mouros (reconstructed 19th c.) with a breath-taking view of the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, and the summer residence of the kings of Portugal Palácio Nacional de Sintra (largely 15th/16th c.), in the town itself. The Sintra Mountain Range, one of the largest parks in the Lisbon area, ("Serra de Sintra") is also a major tourist attraction.

History

The town was already described in the 11th century by the Arab geographer Al-Bacr and later by the poets Luís de Camões and Lord Byron (Childe Harold's Pilgrimage - 1809). The Moors built the Castelo dos Mouros in the 8th or 9th century. When Afonso Henriques, with the aid of Crusaders, recaptured Sintra in 1147, much of the castle was destroyed. Only four square towers, the battlements, and the ruins of a Romanesque chapel survived.

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In 1507, Diogo Boitac built the Hieronymite monastery of Nossa Senhora da Pena on the nearby hilltop. In 1527 king Manuel I commissioned to Nicolau Chanterene the large, white marble and alabaster altarpiece for the chapel. This retable is his finest work.

In 1808, it was the site of the signing of the controversial Convention of Sintra, which ended the first French invasion of Portugal.

Geography and economy

Major activities in the area are commerce and tourism. Tourists are drawn by the cultural heritage in the town itself, and Sintra-Cascais Natural Park which encompasses the Serra de Sintra and extends to the coastal beaches of the municipality and Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe, which lies 18 kilometres west of Sintra.The parishes of Sintra near Lisbon are in a demographic and construction boom; some of them are bigger than many municipalities in Portugal. Sintra may, in the next 20 years, grow to have a larger population than the capital Lisbon, forming a single continuous urban area with Amadora, Loures, Odivelas, Oeiras, Cascais and Lisbon with a population of 2,000,000.

Civil parishes

* Agualva
* Algueirão-Mem Martins
* Almargem do Bispo
* Belas (Sintra)
* Cacém
* Casal de Cambra
* Colares
* Massamá
* Mira-Sintra
* Monte Abraão
* Montelavar
* Pero Pinheiro
* Queluz
* Rio de Mouro
* São João das Lampas
* São Marcos
* Sintra (Santa Maria e São Miguel)
* Sintra (São Martinho)
* Sintra (São Pedro de Penaferrim)
* Terrugem

Transportation

Some areas of the municipality close to Lisbon are essentially residential suburbs already in conurbation with Amadora, Odivelas. According to recent statistics, Fact|date=March 2008 Sintra's suburban railway is the most crowded suburban train system in Europe. Sintra's problems include major pendular movements to Lisbon, with terrible traffic during rush hour on the IC-19 road to Lisbon.

Twinned cities

The following places are sister cities to Sintra:

*flagicon|Japan Omura, Japan
*flagicon|USA Honolulu, USA

Within the context of development cooperation, Sintra is also linked to:

*flagicon|Morocco Asilah, Morocco (since August 2006)
*flagicon|Morocco El Jadida, Morocco
*flagicon|São Tomé and Príncipe Trindade, São Tomé & Príncipe
*flagicon|Guinea-Bissau Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
*flagicon|Angola Lobito, Angola
*flagicon|Cuba Havana, Cuba
*flagicon|Cape Verde Vila Nova Sintra, Cape Verde Islands
*flagicon|Brazil Petrópolis, Brazil
*flagicon|Mozambique Namaacha, Mozambique

External links

* [http://www.cm-sintra.pt Municipality official website]
* [http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=723 UNESCO World Heritage Page]