Sintra-Portugal.com
The best independent guide to Sintra
Sintra-Portugal.com
The best independent guide to Sintra
Sintra Town Hall
Few cities can boast such a flamboyant town hall as Sintra’s but considering the extravagant architecture contained within the city’s boundaries it may not be so surprising. The Câmara Municipal de Sintra or the Municipal Council of Sintra is a wonderfully extravagant building. When constructed at the turn of the last century other cities were building bland and imposing town halls but Sintra created a building more inspired by the Disney Castle.
Details of Sintra Town Hall
From a distance visitors will first observe the massive clock tower and spire roof that possibly rivals the Palacio Nacional de Sintra kitchen’s two huge chimneys for sky line dominance. The spire of the Sintra town hall is glazed with reflective green and white tiles displaying motifs of the Portuguese coat of arms. The main spire is flanked by four smaller spires while at the top of the spire is an armillary sphere.
The decorative town hall of Sintra
The extravagance of Sintra town hall does not lessen as visitors get closer to the main structure. The Câmara Municipal follows the Manueline style of architecture and includes false battlements and beautiful arched Neo-Manueline styled windows.
This style of architecture was championed by Adas Bermudes and the building follows many of his designs and drawings. The building was completed in 1910 and it must be a pleasure for the council workers of Sintra to be employed in such a wondrous building. The Câmara Municipal de Sintra was constructed on the site of the old Chapel of São Sebastião.
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About this guide I'm Philip Giddings. I have been exploring Portugal since 2001, and writing the independent guides at Sintra-Portugal.com since 2008. I live in Lisbon with my Portuguese wife, Carla, who first took me up to Sintra on one of my earliest trips to the country. We have been going back ever since: summer crowds, autumn fog, the quiet Sunday afternoons of January. The region has changed a great deal in twenty-five years of visits, and we have watched it happen.
The site takes no payment from tourist boards, tour operators, or attractions for inclusion. It is funded by affiliate commissions on tour bookings, disclosed on every page that contains them. Every practical detail in these guides (ticket prices, opening hours, bus routes, time-slot policies) is checked against the official Parques de Sintra site, and verified in person on visits two or three times a year. Read my full bio here.
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