Building love in Lisbon

The Castle of the Moors defends its position among Lisbon's most ancient and esoteric constructions.[Photo/Courtesy of Tourism Portugal]

A balcony sundial not only homed rays to tell time but also concentrated beams through a magnifying glass to ignite gunpowder to declare chowtime. It's a pyrotechnic take on the dinner bell.

The compound Ferdinand II reconstructed on the ruins of a medieval monastery is ultimately a sanctuary of romanticism.

It, too, hosts a 96-hectare garden left to grow wild.

Indeed, Ferdinand II lives up to his name as the "artist king".

He not only drew the merman likeness of the Greek sea god Triton's statue above a main gateway but also rendered the complex into a shrine adulating romantic philosophy.

The palace is packed with the movement's major motifs－nature, kids and an amalgam of architecture that would otherwise make no sense.

Stone turtles crawl around elves. Carved vines wrap banisters.

Pillars and arches painted on the walls make the Arabic Room appear like a huge Middle Eastern complex－an embrace the muddling of styles, of exotic destinations and of illusion, since the modestly sized room appears to be a vast compound.

Indeed, the palace proves romantic beyond its architecture, as it's still a popular wedding venue.

Like the rest of Lisbon, Pena is a place dedicated to marrying different ways of thinking.

And that's what love is about, isn't it?

Contact the writer at erik_nilsson@chinadaily.com.cn