Direção-Geral do Património Cultural

In the 19th century, Sintra became the first centre of European Romantic architecture. King Ferdinand II turned a ruined monastery into a castle where this new sensitivity was displayed in the use of Gothic, Egyptian, Islamic and Renaissance elements and in the creation of a park blending local and exotic-species. Other prestigious homes built along the same lines in the surrounding Serra created a unique combination of parks and gardens which influenced the development of landscapes in Europe.

http://whc.unesco.org/fr/list/723