Lends

Legend of the Fairy Cave 

Cave formed by an immense granite rock, supported by two cliffs that flank it. The legend tells that every night around midnight, a fairy comes to this place and there she cries for her destiny.
The mentioned cave is in the road that leads to Pena, on the left when you go up, when you are almost reaching the main gate of the Pena Park.

Legend of Peninha 

It is told that during the reign of João III, in a land called Almoínhos-Velhos, there was a dumb lady shepherd that used to take her sheep to graze on the top of the mountain.
One day, one of her sheep ran away, and the young shepherd was desperate looking for the sheep.
After long search she saw a lady along the path that carried her sheep on the arms.
The young shepherd thanked a lot, the better she could, once she couldn’t speak.
The lady, benefiting from the occasion, asked the shepherd to give her some bread. The shepherd explained her through gestures that it had been a bad year and there was a lot of anger. Then the lady gave her some advice:
- When you get home call for your mother and look for bread.
The shepherd tried to explain the lady that it would be impossible to do that, on one hand because she was certain there wasn’t any bread at her place, on the other hand because she was dumb. Though the lady insisted on it so much that she decided to do what she has been told.
When she got home she called for her mum and her voice spread through the entire house.
She told the story to her mother and hurried to look for the bread. And they were both amazed when they found inside an ark enough bread for the all village.  
On the next day as a proof of thanking, the entire village climbed the mountain and exactly on the place where the little shepherd met the lady there was a cave with the icon of Our Lady.
This place was given as holy and later there was built a chapel known as Our Lady of Peninha Chapel (Capela de Nossa Senhora da Peninha).

Monserrate Legend 

The tradition tells that during the Arab domain lived a young Arab or a Christian nobleman at the Alto da Penha. This man had great power over the Christian families that inhabited the mountain.
That young Arab had an ancient quarrel with the Sintra’s castle’s alcaide, and that resulted on a duel. The young Arab fell dead on the floor, and he was considered a martyr by the people and for him was built a grave and also a little chapel for worship.
This little hermit came to ruin and in 1500 was replaced by another one, built by Father Gaspar Preto, under the calling of Our Lady of Monserrate. The icon came from Rome and is alabaster made.

Seteais Legend 

When Sintra was still of the Moorish, one of the first Christian knights to go up the mountain of Sintra was Mendo de Paiva. Among all the confusion and dispersing of some and arrival of other, he found himself near a small secret door through which many Moorish escaped from the citadel. Among them, he saw a beautiful Moorish, together with her old chambermaid.
When she met the eyes of the Christian, the Moorish sighed because she has been discovered and the old lady, that hadn’t noticed the knight, told her to hurry and not to sigh. However, noticing her mistress’ look, followed it and finally saw the enemy. Smiling he said: 
- Finish what you were saying!
Nevertheless, the old woman, with a heavy look, answered:
- What I have to say is not worthy for you to listen, Kaffir! The Christians have all they wanted: our belongings, our lands, and the castle. Go away! Go and leave us alone, the way is settled.
- You go, old woman! The girl is my prisoner!
When the Moorish heard such thing, she sighed once more, frightened and commoved. By hearing that sound again, the old woman, thought she should better confess her secret to the Christian:
- Say no more, Christian! Say no more, because my mistress carries an awful curse since she was born!
- What do you mean, old woman? – asked the knight at the same time that the Moorish gave her third sigh.
- Oh, knight! When my mistress was born a witch that hated her mother, because she robed the man she loved from her, cursed her. She fated her to die on the day she would sigh seven times, and, has you see, she did it already three times!   
Mendo laughed joyfully and the young woman sighed again.
- I do not believe those things, old woman! From now on both of you will be under my guard. I want your mistress for me
The Moorish sighed again and the old woman cried in continuous torment:
- Did you hear Knight, did you?!? It is the fifth sigh! May Allah protect her!
- Don’t be afraid! Wait here for a while… I will be back to take you to a quiet place.
The Christian left quickly and, as soon as he disappeared in the curtain walls, a group of Moorish that heard the conversation came suddenly to steal the two women. They cut the old woman throat with a single dagger cut, and she didn’t even have time to scream. And the young lady, seeing her old chambermaid die in such a sudden and cruel way, released a hurt sigh. This was the sixth and the seventh was the last thing she mentioned the moment she saw the dagger coming in her neck’s direction.
When Mendo came back with some guards, he was sadly amazed to see that the curse has been kept!
Mendo swore revenge and from that day on he became the most impious Christian that the Moorish had ever found in their way.

Cape of Roca Legend  

Says the legend that near Cape of Roca once disappeared a little five year old boy from his mother’s house, hand she couldn’t guess where her boy would be. She started thinking he could have fallen from a high cliff to the sea and drowned. She even considered the death. But there was a different reality. Some witches had taken him from his house and threw him from a cliff to the sea.
Some shepherds heard the child’s screams and quickly gave the news to the village and then came lots of villagers with the mom to save the poor boy.
It was complicated to take him from the hole because it seemed its limit was inaccessible, but they finally made it. Everybody was happy to have him safe, but soon the mum asked who had put him there and feed him there for so long.
The boy explained that were some women that had brought him trough the air and had thrown him to that hole. However, there was a beautiful lady that would bring him gillyflower soups everyday to feed him.
After everything was explained and solved, the entire village and the mom and the boy went to church to thank Our Lady for the happy ending. And when they entered the church, the boy said by these words: ‘Oh mother, that is the lady who fed me everyday with those soups.’
The boy’s name was José Gomes, but he was known in Cascais Square by Chapinheiro.
This miracle is written on a retable painted inside the church near Guia Lighthouse (Cascais), dated of 1858. 

National Palace of Sintra Legend 

At the National Palace of Sintra there is a room which ceiling is painted with many drawings of magpies.
It is told that the king and queen that lived there then made a hundred women contract marriage, counting those to whom he have been married, following good examples. There wasn’t any illicit connection, and there wasn’t any known case of adultery. The court was a school. Lady Filipa, bringing to her chest her chaste wife’s veil, didn’t forgive, she was terrible in her gentleness and she brought her husband under thorns.
One day in Sintra, as the legend tells, the king forgot and furtively kissed one of the maids, and suddenly appeared the blond and chaste queen accusing, serious and wordless, but with that fierce look. King João shy, tottering, told her something fool: ‘It was for the good!!!’ The queen left the room. Were it jealous? No, jealous are only felt by those who are in love, and that wasn’t the case. It was only a matter of hurt pride.
The news quickly spread through the Palace, and all the servants had the known sentence in their mouths: ’It was for the good’. Annoyed by the situation, the king ordered the creation of a room for the servants. Everyone was thrilled with the idea and they counted the days for the room to be ready.
Finally the day came; they were going to see the room. And they were stunt when they saw that the entire ceiling had painted magpies with the sentence ‘Pour Bien’ (For Good) written on their beaks.

The Eggs Rock (yellow stone) Legend

In the centre of the mountain of Sintra there is a high rock vertically raised, ironically, by nature or otherwise done by volcanic convulsions of the land in foreign times. And that rock is tied to this legend:
Long time ago it was told that under a certain rock there was a hidden treasure (an enchanted treasure) that belonged to whom was able to knock down the rock by throwing eggs to it.
An old woman got into her idea that the treasure would be hers. For that, she joined as much eggs as she could. When she thought she had a good number of them, she started her naïf task. She carried in little portions all the eggs near the rock and she started working. One by one, two by two, with all the strength she had, she would throw the eggs to the rock.
When she had none, she suffered an awful deception! The rock remained erect and firm, washed by the eggs.
And it was like this that it cleared away all the hopes of the old woman. And still today, the people, keen to the wonderful, imagines to see in the yellowish moss the egg yolks that the old woman threw to the rock.