Queluz National Palace

The Palácio Nacional de Queluz near Sintra is the finest example of Rococo architecture in Portugal, begun in 1747 as a summer retreat for Infante Dom Pedro and expanded over subsequent decades. The formal gardens are particularly celebrated, designed along French and English lines with boxwood parterres, fountains, and a canal channel lined with 18th-century azulejo panels depicting hunting scenes and river landscapes. The palace was the birthplace of King João VI.