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Quinta da Regaleira is a wonderful Palace with attached gardens, in the beautiful Sintra.
The estate is located in the historic center.
Beautiful and fascinating, it is also one of the most enigmatic places in the Portuguese city.
Right here, in fact, are two of the most mysterious places in the city, around which mystery, symbolism, esotericism hover: the initiation well and the unfinished well.
The Unfinished Well, as the name suggests, was never completed. A single straight staircase connected to the other well through a series of galleries.
The Initiatic Well can be considered as a sort of reverse tower, which descends to the bowels of the earth. Or, looking in the opposite direction, a tower that leads from darkness up to the light! A descent and ascent that symbolizes death and rebirth.
You go down for thirty meters, through 9 levels (number that recalls the circles of Inferno Purgatorio and Paradiso of the Divine Comedy). At the end, on the bottom, the cross of the Templars is carved.
In these mysterious places it seems that initiation rites, probably of Masonic origin, took place. After all, the millionaire owner who had it built was a well-known Freemason.
PRACTICAL INFO
HOW TO GET TO THE INITIATIC WELL
The estate is located a couple of kilometers walk from the Sintra train station.
From Lisbon it is preferable to arrive by train, especially in high season, due to the difficulty of parking.
The best way is to arrive by bus (line 434). The stop is less than 10 minutes away on foot.
OPENING AND VISIT HOURS
The initiation well and Quinta da Regaleira are open every day, from Monday to Sunday, including holidays, from 10:00 to 18:30.
Admission is allowed before 5:30 pm.
Unless otherwise specified, the use of a mask and maintaining a physical distance of 2 meters from each person is mandatory.
In the Wells it circulates exclusively in a descending direction.
During the weekend and on busy days, it is very likely that you will find long queues at the entrance: arm yourself with a lot of patience because you could wait over half an hour!
TICKETS
To access the Initiatic Well, you need to buy an entrance ticket for Quinta da Regaleira. With the ticket you can visit the entire estate, the Palace, and the various exhibition spaces.
The ticket for adults, from 18 to 64 years, costs 1€.
Children aged 6 to 17, and people aged 65 to 79, pay the reduced rate of 6€.
Also available the FAMILY TICKET at a cost of 26€ for two adults and 4 children up to 18 years old.
The audio guide is available at a cost of €4 per person.
Free for children up to 5 years, and over 80.