Initiation Well, Quinta da Regaleira
The Quinta da Regaleira is the palace and surrounding four-hectare gardens built by António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro, a Portuguese millionaire, between 1904-10 in Sintra, Portugal.
He employed the Italian architect Luigi Manini to create the neo-Manueline main house and to design the gardens which are filled with curious buildings, follies, grottoes, towers and tunnels - such as the Initiation Well seen here. This is a 27 metre sunken tower down which a spiral staircase winds, leading ultimately to the well itself at the bottom. According to the guide leaflet: "this hallowed space, full of esoteric and alchemical associations, makes the relation between Heaven and Earth intensely felt".
The design of the garden is said to represent an initiate's metaphysical journey through the cosmos towards enlightenment.
Initiation Well, Quinta da Regaleira
The Quinta da Regaleira is the palace and surrounding four-hectare gardens built by António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro, a Portuguese millionaire, between 1904-10 in Sintra, Portugal.
He employed the Italian architect Luigi Manini to create the neo-Manueline main house and to design the gardens which are filled with curious buildings, follies, grottoes, towers and tunnels - such as the Initiation Well seen here. This is a 27 metre sunken tower down which a spiral staircase winds, leading ultimately to the well itself at the bottom. According to the guide leaflet: "this hallowed space, full of esoteric and alchemical associations, makes the relation between Heaven and Earth intensely felt".
The design of the garden is said to represent an initiate's metaphysical journey through the cosmos towards enlightenment.