Hospitality

Hospitality A Five Star report dedicated to Tivoli Palรกcio de Seteais Noble and Timeless

Tivoli Palace de Seteais โ ข 1

Tivoli Palácio de Seteais

Noble and Timeless

From the triumphal arch, between the mists cut through here and there by the sun’s rays, the Pena Palace and the Castle of the Moors rise up on the horizon, as if suspended in the haze, like an apparition.

We’re in the hills of Sintra, a town classified a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On one of its slopes, abundantly decorated with lush vegetation, stands, since the 18th century, the Palácio de Seteais, in the former residence of the Dutch Consul Daniel Gildmeester, who commissioned its construction. But this triumphal arch linking the two wings of the palace dates from the 19th century, and was commissioned by the fifth Marquis of Marialva, upon the visit of King D. João VI and Carlota Joaquina.

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Transformed into a luxury hotel in 1953, the Tivoli Palácio de Seteais has always fascinated the illustrious with its romantic and strategic location, with its history, its sophistication, comfort and the excellent services it has always represented. Prepared to receive guests in the height of comfort and luxury and to provide memorable experiences, as in every hotel within the group, in Portugal and Brazil, and as a result ever searching to improve itself even further, the Tivoli Palácio de Seteais was closed for about a year before reopening in April of 2009.

It reopened reaffirming its neoclassical lines and all its splendour and elegance. The major refurbishment and modernisation project came under the mandate of Fundação Espírito Santo da Silva, with the support of architect José Luís Teixeira Pinto and interior designer Maria Ilharco de Moura. The 2000 or so pieces of art from assorted artistic areas comprising the hotel’s collection, including furniture, lighting, textiles, tapestries, paintings, murals, easel paintings, engravings, porcelain, etc. were also renovated by the respected Fundação Espírito Santo da Silva – an enterprise that involved 14 workshops and 30 technicians for 10 months. Two new meeting or banquet rooms were renovated and adapted, which, given their classical decoration, blend perfectly with the palace setting, despite being endowed with the very latest in audiovisual equipment.

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In the 30 rooms and bathrooms, the decoration revives the glamour of former times, now with modern fixtures and fittings, to ensure the comfort and wellbeing of guests.

Being in the Tivoli Palácio de Seteais allows you to return to a noble and luxurious past, enjoying every convenience of the 21st century. The magnificent paintings, frescos, tapestries, and the whole decoration and architecture recreate a palatial environment. The Restaurante Seteais, with its superb view over the gardens, and access to them, presents a renewed menu of traditional Portuguese cuisine. Besides the existing services and facilities, the Hotel, following its reopening, and perfectly integrated into the Experience More concept, now features a wider range of services and a team of Experience Assistants, available at any hour, to help guests have original and memorable experiences. In one of the most beautiful places on the planet,

with an exceptional microclimate, and with sumptuous vegetation, planted to romantic or native whim in a swathe of assorted greens, the Tivoli Palácio de Seteais rises majestic and noble through the centuries and promises to continue to make history, because knowhow from the past has been combined with new trends, services and the desire to continue to make of this place an icon of comfort, refinement and the art of excellent hospitality.

3.650 c.

Special promotional pages by Hospitality Magazine Text by Maria Amélia Pires Photographs by Miguel Costa

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The Spirit of Romantic Sintra On sloping mounds, or in the vale beneath Are domes where whilome kings did make repair But now the the wild flowers reound them only breath; Yet ruin’d splendour still is lingering there And yonder towers the Prince’s palace fair: There thou, too, Vathek! England’s wealthiest son.

Once form’d thy Paradise, as not aware When wanton Wealth her mightiest deeds hath done, Meek Peace voluptions lures was ever wont to shun «Here didst thou dwell, here scenes of pleasure plan Beneath yon mountain’s ever beauteous brow But now, as if a thing unblest by Man Thy fairy dwelling is as lone as thou Here giant weeds a passage scarce allow To halls deserted, portals gaping wide Fresh lessons to the thinking bosom, how Vain are the wrecks anon by Time’s ungent tide.

From the visit of Byron, in 1809, this poem Childe Harold ‘s Pilgrimage ( XXII- XXIII), echoes the romantic feeling that the old and harmonious Palace Monserrate had awakened him.

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The Monserrate Palace or family Cook home The Monserrate Palace (Portuguese: Palácio de Monserrate) is an exotic palatial villa located near Sintra, Portugal, the traditional summer resort of the Portuguese court. It was restored in 1858 for Sir Francis Cook, an English baronet created visconde de Monserrate by King Luís. Monserrate turned to an English architect, James Knowles Jr., for designs. Though its Moghul-inspired details are unique in Portugal, its eclecticism is a fine example of the Sintra Romanticism, along with other nearby palácios, such as the Pena Palace.

In 1856 the fifth Monserrate is bought by Francis Cook, an English millionaire textile merchant who sends redo the palace, now the neo-Moorish taste, and that creates a remarkable landscaped garden, inspired by English Romanticism. The Sir Francis Cook (1817-1901), who in 1841 marries Emily Martha, daughter of Robert Lucas is due to concretization of coherent constructive and ornamental program of English architect James T. Knowles, in full co-trunnion with the afforestation program and renewal of plant species in the park.

It is thanks to the romantic spirit of Francis Cook, the programmatic intervention landscaper William Stockdale, botanist William Nevill and the master gardener James Burt that today we can find contrasting scenarios in Monserrate park that along winding paths, amid ruins, places , lakes and waterfalls in per-mitem contact with Fetuses-arboreal ancestors and Araucárias New Zealand and Australia, Agaves and Pal-meiras that recreate a scene from Mexico, camellias, azaleas, rhododendrons and bamboo, resembling a Japanese garden. Sensations that lets you experience and the wealth of heritage that we are given to know, make Monserrate a key part of the discovery of the Romantic Sintra. Unedited text 1.820 c.

Sintra Palace an everlasting love In the 12th century the village was conquered by King Afonso Henriques, who took the ‘Sintra Palace’ castle for his use. The blend of Gothic, Manueline, Moorish, and Mudéjar styles in the present palace is, however, mainly the result of building campaigns in the 15th and early 16th centuries.

King Manuel ordered the construction of the so-called Ala Manuelina (Manuel’s Wing), to the right of the main façade, decorated with typical manueline windows. He also built the Coats-of-Arms Room (Sala dos Brasões) (1515–1518), with a magnificent wooden coffered domed ceiling decorated with 72 coats-of-arms of the King and the main Portuguese noble families. The coat-of-arms of the Távora family was however removed after their conspiracy against king Joseph I. In the following centuries the Palace continued to be inhabited by Kings from time to time, gaining new decoration in the form of paintings, tile panels and furniture. A sad story associated with the Palace is that of the mentally unstable King Afonso VI, who was deposed by his brother Pedro II and forced to live without leaving the Palace from 1676 until his death in 1683.

The ensemble suffered damage after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake but was restored in the “old fashion”. At the end of the 18th century, Queen Maria I redecorated and redivided the rooms of the Ala Manuelina.

During the 19th century, Sintra became again a favourite spot for the Kings and the Palace of Sintra was frequently inhabited. Queen Amélia, in particular, was very fond of the Palace and made several drawings of it. With the foundation of the Republic, in 1910, the Palace became a National Monument. In the 1940s, it was restored by architect Raul Lino, who tried to return the Palace to its former splendour by adding old furniture from other palaces and restoring the tile panels. It has been an important historical tourist attraction ever since. Unedited text 1.950 c.

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Park and National Palace of Pena or the Crown of the Sintra Region The palace itself is composed of two wings: the former manueline monastery of the order of st. Jerome and the wing built in the 19th century by king ferdinand ii. These wings are ringed by a third architectural structure that is a fantasised version of an imaginary castle, whose walls one can walk around and which comprises battlements, watchtowers, an entrance tunnel and even a drawbridge.

In 1838, King Ferdinand II acquired the former Hieronymite monastery of Our Lady of Pena, which had been built by King Manuel I in 1511 on the top of the hill above Sintra and had been left unoccupied since 1834 when the religious orders were suppressed in Portugal. The monastery consisted of the cloister and its outbuildings, the chapel, the sacristy and the bell tower, which today form the northern section of the Palace of Pena, or the Old Palace as it is known.

King Ferdinand began by making repairs to the former monastery, which, according to the historical sources of that time, was in very bad condition. He refurbished the whole of the upper floor, replacing the fourteen cells used by the monks with larger-sized rooms and covering them with the vaulted ceilings that can still be seen today. In roughly 1843, the king decided to enlarge the palace by building a new wing (the New Palace) with even larger rooms (the Great Hall is a good example of this), ending in a circular tower next to the new kitchens. The building work was directed by the Baron of Eschwege.

The Palace of Pena was designated a National Monument in 1910 and forms part of the Cultural Landscape of Sintra, which has been classified by UNESCO as World Heritage since 1995.

In 2013, the Palace was integrated into the Network of European Royal Residences. Unedited text 1.820 c.

Quinta da Regaleira the Palace of “Monteiro the Millionaire” Quinta da Regaleira is an estate located near the historic center of Sintra, Portugal. It is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO within the “Cultural Landscape of Sintra”. Along with the other palaces in the area (such as the Sintra National Palace, Pena, Monserrate and Seteais palaces), it’s considered one of the principal tourist attractions of Sintra. The property consists of a romantic palace and chapel, and a luxurious park that features lakes, grottoes, wells, benches, fountains, and a vast array of exquisite constructions. The palace is also known as “The Palace of Monteiro the Millionaire”, which is based on the nickname of its best known former owner, António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro.

The land that is now Quinta da Regaleira had many owners over the years.

It belonged to the Viscountess of Regaleira, a family of wealthy merchants from Porto, when it was sold in 1892 toCarvalho Monteiro for 25,000 réis.

Monteiro was eager to build a bewildering place where he could collect symbols that reflected his interests and ideologies. With the assistance of the Italianarchitect Luigi Manini, he recreated the 4-hectare estate. In addition to other new features, he added enigmatic buildings that allegedly held symbols related to alchemy, Masonry, the Knights Templar, and the Rosicrucians. The architecture Manini designed evoked Roman, Gothic, Renaissance, and Manueline styles. The construction of the current estate commenced in 1904 and much of it was completed by 1910.

Extensive restoration efforts were promptly initiated throughout the estate. It finally opened to the public in June 1998 and began hosting cultural events. In August of that same year, the Portuguese Ministry of Culture classified the estate as “public interest property”. Unedited text 1.860 c.

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