Sintra

Inside Monserrate Palace, Sintra.

Located at Capuchos Road, Sintra, it was made built by King Ferdinand II. He was king by marriage with Queen Mary II (the ruler). The first husband of the queen (King August I, August von Leuchtenberg) had died in 1835 of disease, two months after the wedding. In 1836 the queen married Ferdinand von Sax-Coburg Gotha, which became King Ferdinand II. Widower after the death of the queen, in 1853, he also suffered the death of their son, Peter V, in 1861, what brought about the ascent to the throne of Louis I, another son of Mary and Ferdinand. King Ferdinand II had felt in love in 1860 with Elise Hensler, an opera singer he had seen performing in Lisbon. Elise, born in La Chaux-de-Fonds (Neuchâtel Canton, Switzerland) was educated in Boston, where her parents had migrated to, and acquired U.S. nationality. She married Ferdinand II in 1869, when the chalet and surrounding gardens, built at his expenses, were achieved. Before their marriage she became Countess of Edla, a title issued by an Austrian prince, cousin of Ferdinand. In 1885 the Countess lost her husband and was compelled to sell the estate to the state, keeping the right to use it until 1904. Then she moved to Lisbon, where she died in 1929. In 1999 a fire destroyed part of the chalet, which was fully restored and opened to the public in 2011.

Located at Capuchos Road, Sintra, its walls create deliberately the illusion of timber. Balconies, roof eaves, doors and windows' jambs were carved in raw cork.

A very confined room inside the chalet of the Countess of Edla, at Capuchos Road, Sintra.

Only the furniture is displayed. This room is on the upper floor of the chalet of the Countess of Edla, at Capuchos Road, Sintra.

Displayed in the dressing room of the Countess of Edla, in the upper floor of her chalet, at Capuchos Road, Sintra. Reflections of the ceiling on the showcase's glass made difficult a neat view, mostly of the braid.

In the upper floor of her chalet, at Capuchos Road, Sintra.

In the ground floor of the chalet of the Countess of Edla, at Capuchos Road, Sintra.

Decorated in stucco simulating ivy, this room is on the ground floor of the chalet of the Countess of Edla, at Capuchos Road, Sintra.