Dances, bullfights and fruit from Colares. What preparations were made for the Queen's arrival in Sintra?

For many years, Sintra belonged to the House of Queens (the name given to all the property donated by Portuguese monarchs to their consorts) and so the first visit of a sovereign was a way of affirming and legitimising her administrative, judicial and economic power over the region. What were the preparations for this initial visit like? What special requests were made?

The testimony of Queen Luisa de Guzmán's visit to Sintra on 15 July 1652 helps give us an idea of what these days were like. Tomé Pinheiro da Veiga, the Queen's ombudsman (i.e. the bailiff responsible for dealing with cases in which the Queen was the supreme judge) took everything up directly with the Sintra Town Council. In a letter dated 9 July, he asked that the Queen's reception be afforded "every display of festivity and joy." But there were more specific requests. Here are some examples:

- All roads leading to and from Sintra were to be well decorated to celebrate the Queen's passing;

- If necessary, the town council should call in stonemasons and quarrymen who could break up boulders with pickaxes to clear any obstructions preventing the procession's passage;

- The council was also to call on the people of all parishes to come and welcome the Queen. In particular, a group of young women were to be sent from the town of Colares with baskets of fruit to offer the sovereign;

- Dances and festivities were to be held, with all the concomitant "fuss", including a bullfight on the palace grounds;

- The council was to ensure that turkeys, chickens, sheep, veal, game and goats were prepared for the banquet on the second day.

On the 15th, everything went as expected. According to testimony that arrived today via the São Vicente Collection, the Queen arrived in Sintra at around 6pm to the sound of "trumpets, dances and revelry" and was received in the Swan Room of the Palace of Sintra by the town's itinerant judge (the most important local official). There was also "a lot of fire" that night. During her stay, as well as enjoying all the festivities in the town, the Queen visited various places, including "the monastery of Pena", the Convent of the Capuchos, Penha Longa, Colares, Cascais and the rock of Alvidrar (between Adraga beach and Ursa beach).

It was a week of festivities in Sintra, fit for a queen.