Why go
This short period explains why the National Palace includes repair as well as medieval fabric, and why the royal story shifts to other nearby residences. Seteais' commemorative arch and the later purchase of Pena's monastery show Sintra moving toward its nineteenth-century identity.
The full story
The 1755 earthquake caused deaths and substantial damage in Sintra and its district. Restoration work at the town palace followed in the second half of the eighteenth century. Maria I visited Sintra in 1787, prompting redecoration of palace rooms, but major celebrations increasingly took place elsewhere. The baptism of the infant António in 1795, for example, was held at Queluz Palace. At Seteais, an arch designed by Costa e Silva commemorated a visit by João and Carlota Joaquina in 1802. These details show a royal landscape no longer centered on one residence. The next major shift came in 1838, when Ferdinand II bought the former monastery at Pena and adjoining land. That purchase set the stage for the Romantic palace above Sintra. Looking at the National Palace, Seteais and Pena together reveals a sequence of damage, repair, changing court preference and reinvention.