The Sintra Mountains ( pt, Serra de Sintra), is a mountain range in western

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

. Its highest point is at 529 meters (1,736 ft) near

Sintra Sintra (, ) is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 377,835, in an area of . Sintra is one of the most urbanized and densely populat ...

. The range covers about 16 kilometers (10 mi) from the resort town of Sintra to ''(Cape Roca)'' on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

. It was known to the Ancient World as Lunae Mons (mountain of the Moon) and was the legendary retreat of

Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997) ...

the Huntress (known as Cynthia to the Romans, from the Greek ''Κύνθια'', hence Çintra). It has a rich fauna, foxes, genet, moles, salamanders, peregrine falcons, vipers and various species of scaly reptiles. Its climate is temperate with many oceanic influences and hence presents a higher rainfall than the remaining area of Lisbon. It also has a unique vegetation. About nine hundred plant species are indigenous, ten percent of which are endemic. Namely oak, cork oak and pine wood. It is the target of several sightseeing tours. It is also visited by climbing and mountaineering practitioners, since the slopes are mostly oriented to the west, which increases the length of light in summer afternoons. In it are located: the

Moorish Castle The Moorish Castle is the name given to a medieval fortification in Gibraltar comprising various buildings, gates, and fortified walls, with the dominant features being the Tower of Homage and the Gate House. Part of the castle itself also house ...

, the

Pena Palace The Pena Palace ( pt, Palácio da Pena) is a Romanticist castle in São Pedro de Penaferrim, in the municipality of Sintra, on the Portuguese Riviera. The castle stands on the top of a hill in the Sintra Mountains above the town of Sintra, and ...

, the Capuchin Convent, the

Sintra National Palace The Palace of Sintra ( pt, Palácio Nacional de Sintra), also called Town Palace (''Palácio da Vila''), is located in the town of Sintra, in the Lisbon District of Portugal. It is a present-day historic house museum. It is the best-preserved m ...

, the Palace of Monserrate and the

Quinta da Regaleira ''Quinta da Regaleira'' is a quinta located near the historic centre of Sintra, Portugal. It is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO within the "Cultural Landscape of Sintra". Along with the other palaces in the area such as the Quinta ...

. Since long ago it has been a place full of myths and legends about supernatural activities and ones without obvious explanation. In 2009 a Portuguese television channel created a television series

Lua Vermelha ''Lua Vermelha'' (lit. ''Red Moon'') is a Portuguese teen television series about vampires that aired on SIC. Produced in partnership with SP TV, ''Lua Vermelha'' premiered on January 31, 2010, airing on the weekends at 9:00 p.m. The series f ...

based on the supernatural environment that lived in Sintra.Official Site: The story, set in a college in the middle of the mountain tells of an impossible love between a vampire and a human girl, but she also had supernatural powers, discovered throughout the episodes.

References

Mountain ranges of Portugal Cascais Sintra {{Lisbon-geo-stub