What happens when an eccentric, wealthy, Romantic-era member of the Knights Templar hires a set designer to create his dream castle? Well, in the case of António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro and his Italian architect, Luigi Manini, you get the wild estate of Quinta da Regaleira.

 

That’s the five-story palace, and in many ways, it’s the most normal of the elements on site. Because things get a lot stranger from here. The most famous feature on the property is the Initiation Well.

 

To be clear, this is not really a well at all — it’s nine levels of fifteen steps each, winding down in what may be a reference to the Divine Comedy’s descent into hell.

As best we know, new initiates into the Knights Templar (a type of Freemason) would walk down these stairs on the night of their induction, likely blindfolded and carrying swords held next to their hearts. Once they made it to the cross at the bottom, they’d end up in a creepy network of tunnels and caves.

Fortunately, the tunnels are now nicely paved and lit. But back in the day, initiates would have had to stumble through a damp labyrinth in the dark until they found their way to the stepping stones over the now-green waterfall lake (you can probably imagine the symbolism related to walking on water) …

… and then further downhill to the godly light of the chapel — where, as you can see, the floor mosaics highlight the Templar cross (aka the Cross of the Order of Christ).

The whole property is a warren of caves and grottos. If you’re feeling brave, you can still wander through the dark, wet sections.

Some of the tunnels lead to lakes, some run into stairs that go to other levels of the property, and some simply dead end. All of the tunnels are covered in stones brought in from an area by the sea, to give the illusion of being in a very different underground world.

The property is not all about descending into the earth’s depths, however. In addition to the chapel …

… a bevy of towers exists to take visitors up into the light.

Indeed, Quinta de Regaleira has a higher tower-to-acre ratio than most places I’ve seen.

If you want to continue the ascending and descending metaphor, there are also stairs in all sorts of places.

What other symbols might you find here? Well, there are ibises (which are connected to the human soul and the afterlife) …

… the Eye of Providence …

… lions (traditional Knights Templar symbols of power and courage) …

… dragons (guardian beings) …

… and Christian iconography galore.

Of course, while we know for certain what some of these symbols mean (Noah’s Ark is pretty clear), we can’t be sure about most of this. There’s a lot of dicey speculation out there about symbology. And the fact is that neither the owner nor the architect of Quinta de Regaleira left information about why they included various elements of the palace or the park. It could be symbolism, but some of it may just have been whimsy. After all, there’s a lot more out there, from dogs …

… to frogs …

… to whatever these things are:

In any case, Quinta de Regaleira is well worth a visit. You’ll be surrounded by dozens (maybe hundreds) of other tourists — this is one of the most popular palaces in Sintra — but it’s an incredible and unusual place.