Afonso Henriques took the Moorish castle at Sintra in the 12th century. The Royal Chapel, possibly of the early 14th century, is the earliest surviving part. John I sponsored a major building campaign from about 1415, and most buildings around the central courtyard date from it. Manuel I sponsored a second campaign from 1497 to 1530. The article names no architect.
The styles are Gothic, Manueline, Moorish and Mudéjar. Seville-made polychrome tiles with Mudéjar motifs date from Manuel's time, and the Coats-of-Arms Room of 1515 to 1518 has a coffered domed ceiling and 72 coats of arms. The Swan Room has painted swans and the Magpie Room has magpies on its ceiling. Two large kitchens have conical chimneys.
The 1755 Lisbon earthquake damaged the palace, and the tower over the Arab Room collapsed. Raul Lino restored it in the 1940s. It is a historic house museum within the UNESCO-listed Cultural Landscape of Sintra.
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