Place · Portugal
The history of Sintra, one place at a time
Assembled from 9 dug tiles · 64 sourced records · last reviewed 20 September 2026
Sintra, Portugal, gathers its history around a royal palace where kings were born, confined and died, and around the villages and burial grounds spread through its hills. Moorish, medieval and modern layers sit close together, held by the crown, by the Church, and later by exiles and dictators-in-waiting.
These are the individual spots Strata has dug in Sintra — not a guide to the town, but a record of what happened on particular ground.
Digs in Sintra
The house where a comeback was plannedBeginning in 1958, an ousted rector used his Linhó summer home to plot his return to power, thirty paces from where you stand. Linhó, Sintra
1301–now The exile who came here to die
An arresting fact about a life that ended a short walk from this point. 50 Alameda da Fonte Velha
800 BC–1974 The king who was born and died on the same hill
A king called "the African" for his wars overseas came back to Sintra to die where he had been born, forty-nine years earlier. Câmara Municipal de Sintra
9222 BC–2018 The house where a comeback was planned
A quarter mile from this point, an ousted professor turned a summer villa into the staging ground for Portugal's last dictatorship. Alameda do Linhó
1550–1996 The dolmen farmers spent a century stealing
A Neolithic burial chamber near this point spent generations losing its stones to local farms before archaeologists lifted them upright again in 2018. Casal de Cambra
4500 BC–2024 A king was shut in this palace until he died
Ninety-five meters from where you stand, the Sintra National Palace held a king in confinement until his life ended inside it. Praça da República
1157–1972 A tower built with nothing to save
Near Sintra, a training ground rehearses fires and collapses that never actually happen there. Painel solar
1895–1916 A consort king died on this street in 1786
Steps from where you stand, Pedro III, husband and uncle to a queen, spent his last years and died in a house at Sintra. 6 Rua Dona Maria II
1900–1956 Where Sintra's history stops naming names
This location sits within Rio de Mouro, in the municipality of Sintra, and the ground beneath your feet has no story the record wants to tell. Rio de Mouro
1850
Sintra in layers
9222–8629 BC
A radiocarbon sample recovered close by dates to between 9222 and 8629 BC, evidence of people on this ground long before Sintra had a name. OpenContext
Late Neolithic, c. 4500–2000 BC
The Anta das Pedras Grandes, a Late Neolithic dolmen built between roughly 4500 and 2000 BC, stands about a kilometer from this spot in Odivelas municipality. Wikipedia
3336–2932 BC
A nearby sample, BETA-228583, pushes the dated activity on this ground back to between 3336 and 2932 BC. OpenContext / p3k14c radiocarbon dataset
3085–2889 BC
A radiocarbon sample taken about a kilometer away, cataloged as BETA-239755, dates human activity on this ground to between 3085 and 2889 BC. OpenContext / p3k14c radiocarbon dataset
Iron Age to 4th century AD
Excavators found 17 Iron Age graves here, part of a burial ground later expanded with Roman-era graves, right around the address at Alameda da Fonte Velha. Portuguese Cultural Heritage - National Archaeological Record
died 1293
Domingos Anes Jardo, a Roman Catholic bishop, was born in Sintra and died in 1293. Wikidata
The village of Linhó, right where you stand, became known for its resorts and its two gated communities, Quinta da Penha Longa and Quinta da Beloura, and even hosted a Bilderberg Meeting. Wikipedia
TASIS Portugal, the fourth school in the Swiss TASIS group, was established in Linhó to serve an international student body. Wikipedia
The Quinta das Cruzadas, a short walk from here, is listed as Immovable Cultural Heritage of Public Interest. Wikidata
TASIS Portugal, the fourth school in the Swiss-run TASIS international network, was established in Linhó right where you are standing. Wikipedia / TASIS Portugal
Quinta das Cruzadas, a farm estate under 500 meters northeast, carries Portugal's Immovable Cultural Heritage of Public Interest designation. Wikidata / Quinta das Cruzadas
1st–4th century AD, excavated 1984
In 1984, archaeologist Santos Rocha uncovered 16 more graves dating from the 1st to 4th centuries AD, with cremated remains buried alongside glass vessels, bracelets, rings and coins. Portuguese Cultural Heritage - National Archaeological Record
circa 1157 onwards, demolished 1910
King Afonso Henriques granted Sintra to the Knights Templar around 1157, and their houses stood right where you're now standing, called Casa dos Templários. OPCTJ (Ordem Portuguesa dos Cavaleiros Templários) - Comenda de Santa Maria de Sintra
14th century
In the 14th century the plague reached Sintra and, carried by the damp mountain air, killed close to half the people who lived here. TheCollector
14th century
Plague swept through Sintra in the 14th century, killing most of the town's people, its spread helped by the cold, damp mountain air that still hangs over these streets. TheCollector
1350
Sintra's own municipal records show five scribes dead of plague in 1350, with more deaths among ordinary people that nobody wrote down. FamilySearch - Sintra, Lisbon Genealogy
early 15th century to late 19th century
A short walk from here, the Sintra National Palace has been inhabited more or less continuously since the early 15th century, making it the best-preserved medieval royal residence in Portugal. Wikipedia: Sintra National Palace
1481
Afonso V of Portugal was born and later died in Sintra in 1481, inside the Town Palace whose twin conical chimneys still rise over the square. Sintra National Palace
1481
Afonso V, King of Portugal and the Algarves, was both born and died in Sintra, in 1481. Wikidata
1481
Afonso V of Portugal, born in Sintra in 1432, died here in 1481 after a reign that saw him nicknamed 'the African' for his campaigns in Morocco. Wikidata
circa 1550
The Igreja da Penha Longa, built around 1550, still stands roughly a kilometer south and holds national monument status in Portugal. Wikidata / Igreja da Penha Longa
circa 1550
The convent buildings next to the church, also dating to around 1550, are included in the same protected heritage site. Wikidata / Convento da Penha Longa
1786
Pedro III of Portugal, husband and co-monarch of Queen Maria I, died in Sintra in 1786. Wikidata
1786
Pedro III of Portugal died here in 1786, decades after marrying his own niece, Queen Maria I, to keep the throne within the family. Wikidata
Questions about Sintra
What is Sintra known for historically?
Sintra is known for the Sintra National Palace, inhabited by Portuguese kings from the early 15th to the late 19th century, where Afonso V was born and died and where Pedro III, king consort to Queen Maria I, also died in 1786. The town also holds Pena Palace, protected since 1838, and older ground including a Templar commenda dating from around 1157.
What happened at Sintra in 1786?
Pedro III of Portugal, king consort to his niece Queen Maria I, died in 1786 in a house on what is now 6 Rua Dona Maria II, having spent nine years ruling in name only beside a queen who held the crown by right.
What happened at Sintra in 1481?
Afonso V of Portugal, known as 'the African' for his campaigns in Morocco, was born and died in Sintra in 1481, aged forty-nine, on the same ground that would later take Pedro III in 1786.
Who else died or is buried in Sintra?
An Austrian-Portuguese general died in Sintra in 1798, a writer and diplomat died there in 1886, a duchess and philanthropist died in 1909, and the South African poet Roy Campbell spent his final year near Linhó before his death in 1957.
What role did Linhó play in Portuguese politics?
From 1958, Marcelo Caetano used his summer house in Linhó to plan his return to power after being forced from the Rectorship of the University of Lisbon in 1962; the plan succeeded in 1968, when he became Prime Minister, holding the post until the Carnation Revolution of 1974 ended his government.
Are there prehistoric sites near Sintra?
Yes. The Anta das Pedras Grandes, a Late Neolithic dolmen built between roughly 4500 and 2000 BC, stands at Casal de Cambra; its stones, stripped by farmers over centuries, were raised upright again in 2018 and it was made a national monument in 1944.