São Jorge Castle and Pena Palais: touristic visits
The Pena park and Pena and Saint George’s Castle welcomed 3.2 million visitors in 2017. With around two million visitors each in 2018, the São Jorge Castle in Lisbon (2 021 242 entries) and the Pena National Park and Palace in Sintra (1 976 367) are in a class of their own: they are Portugal’s most popular monuments for tourists. These two monuments of Lisbon and its region also stand out for the fact that they are much more sought after and visited by foreigners than by the Portuguese themselves. A trend that has become more pronounced in recent years.
This article will talk about different monuments to visit in Lisbon. If you too would like to visit these monuments, you will find below a selection of 5-star tours that have only very good reviews and are conducted by English speaking guides. These visits can be booked in 3 clicks and can be cancelled 24 hours before the visit.
Pena Palace and Saint George’s Castle: foreign visitors
At the São Jorge Castle in Lisbon , according to data published in February by EGEAC, the municipal company that manages this cultural facility, 95% of last year’s admissions came from abroad. At the Pena Park and Palace, the “217,400 visitors of national origin” represent only “11% of the total number of visits to the Pena Palace”.
The most obvious explanation is the growth of tourism in Portugal, especially in Greater Lisbon. There are other very popular monuments whose overwhelming majority of entries are foreign, such as the Belém Tower (92.6%) or the Monastery of the Jéronimos (90%). And the trend is general: according to 2017 data from the Directorate General of Cultural Heritage (DGPC), 68.6% of visitors to the Portuguese museums, monuments and palaces it manages are foreign, with this percentage rising to 82.4% for monuments.
But there are other factors. With regard to the Castle of São Jorge, EGEAC argues that “the trend observed” is “unfortunately associated with the low cultural participation of the Portuguese in general”, given the number of Portuguese visitors per year, “about 90,000”, “still very significant”.
The Castle of São Jorge is an obligatory point of passage for foreigners who come to visit Lisbon.
Pena Palace and Saint George’s Castle Price
At São Jorge Castle, although the management is entrepreneurial, the policies followed do not differ much from those practiced in the monuments under the responsibility of the DGPC. The normal entrance costs ten euros, but no one pays until the age of 13 and after that, until the age of 25, only five euros. People over 65 years of age also benefit from a reduced rate of 8.5 euros.
At the Pena Palace in Sintra, the scenario is very different. Especially with regard to the most popular of its monuments, which accounts for two thirds of all admissions. A couple with two children who want to enter the Palácio da Pena will have to pay around 50 euros. Tickets are even more expensive: 14 euros per adult and 12.5 euros per youth or senior citizen. The price is justified by the fact that the company is subject to “VAT at the rate of 23%, while other national monuments managed by the DGPC are taxed at 0%”.
But the differences extend to the policy of derogations: contrary to the practice of other Portuguese monuments to be visited, everyone pays from the age of 6. Except for residents.
In both cases, entry is free on Sundays for residents of the municipality concerned, but in the case of the heritage managed by Monte da Lua, the impact of this asset was residual. All the more so as the company is responsible for a very rich cultural heritage, classified for the most part by UNESCO in 1995, which also includes the national palaces of Sintra and Queluz, the Moorish Castle, Monserrate, Cap and the Chalet.
Park and Palace of Pena: Portuguese visits
In 2018, only 30,958 citizens visited the various facilities under its management, which corresponds to only “6.35% of the total number of national visitors”. In other words: the overwhelming majority of the Portuguese who visited these monuments had to pay for their visit. And this percentage does not even reach half a percentage point when it is considered as the totality of the tickets for the monuments of Pena.
Despite other controversial issues, namely the question of salaries, which have already led to protests from employees, Monte da Lua (whose capital is shared by the General Directorate of the Treasury and Finance, I.P. (35%), the Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation, I.P. (35%), Portugal Tourism, I.P. (15%) and the municipality of Sintra (15%)) has an excellent national and international reputation. Over the years it has won many international awards, including the famous World Travel Awards, especially for its conservation and restoration work.
In his statements José Alberto Ribeiro, President of the Portuguese National Commission of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), first of all wishes to stress the “unquestionable added value” that the company’s management model has provided at this level. However, he also considers that certain company policies, namely the “price” of the visits, may lead many Portuguese people to be unable to benefit from this cultural place.
“The inhabitants of Sintra have advantages over the entrances but, in fact, the heritage is not only that of Sintra,” he believes. “It’s a national heritage that includes at least three large palaces (Queluz, Vila de Sintra and Pena) with national collections. And for most people, if we think of a family of at least four people, it gets really expensive. And there are no big discounts.”
In total, in 2018, the company recorded a total of 3,513,200 entries in all its parks and monuments, a 10% increase over the previous year. Visitors were distributed among 86% of foreigners (mostly British, French and Spanish) and 14% of Portuguese.
Monte da Lua said it was preparing measures to increase the presence of national visitors, but that these were still “under consideration”.
The monuments managed by the DGPC have fallen by 400,000 visitors, unlike the Castelo de São Jorge and the facilities provided by Monte da Lua, which have maintained their growth trajectory, the year 2018 has not been particularly positive in terms of access to the main national palaces, museums and monuments.
Visits to Portugal’s monuments: the figures
According to published data, last year there was a 7.8% drop in the number of visitors (394,859 fewer people) to the monuments managed by the DGCP, with a total of 4,677,407 entries, with the Jerónimos Monastery being the most visited monument on the list, with more than one million entries.
This is the first time since 2014 that there has been no increase in the total number of visitors. Of these monuments, the Jerónimos Monastery and the Tower of Belém (despite the recorded fall) remained the most visited, followed by the Monastery of Batalha (407,950 visitors), the Convent of Christ in Tomar and the Palace of Mafra, with 348,510 and 340,695 visits respectively.
Taking into account the monuments managed by the DGPC or other entities, the five most visited palaces and monuments in 2018 are :
- São Jorge Castle in Lisbon with 2,021,242 visitors
- National Park and Pena Palace in Sintra with 1,976,367 visitors
- Torre dos Clérigos in Porto with 1,300,000 visitors
- Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon with 1,079,459 visitors
- Moorish castle in Sintra with 592,578 visitors
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