Villa Sassetti

"The history of this place began in 1885 with the acquisition of the land by Victor Carlos Sassetti (1851-1915), a native of Sintra and an eternal lover of the mountains. In this place, he would build his summer house, inspired by the castles of Lombardy, and the garden that surrounds it. Work on this revivalist project began in 1890, developed with the help of friend Luigi Manini, architect and scenographer who designed, among others, the Quinta da Regaleira building. The 1.2 hectares that make up this corner were imagined by these two friends, inspired by the Lombard castles, in northern Italy, the region where the architect (Crema) and the Sasseti family were originally from, and with the aim of creating the perfect symbiosis between natural space and built space. The garden seeks to comply with a scenographic aesthetic, along a winding path, crossed by an artificial water line, expressing a profound relationship of harmony between architecture and landscape. After the death of Victor Sassetti, the place was leased to the Armenian millionaire Calouste Gulbenkian, between 1920 and 1955, and later, to Isabel Armanda Luísa Real. The new owner ordered the construction of the Casa do Caseiro and expanded the main building, adding the current east section and sanitary facilities. It was around this time that the village changed its name, becoming Quinta da Amizade"

"This is free to enter and the gardens tend to be very quiet and beautiful "