About Évora
Évora is a city and a municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of 1307.08 km2. The city is in Alentejo, a region in the south of Portugal and it is, in fact, the capital of Alentejo, literally “beyond Tagus”, a river which is born in Spain and meets the ocean in Lisbon.
Judging by the calm, welcoming surroundings, one easily sees why this city, which dates from the Roman era, was chosen by the kings of Portugal in the 15th century to serve as their residence, a fact that contributed to its development and cultural importance in the following centuries. It was in fact due to Évora´s long history and its urban centre, typical of the 16th to 18th centuries, that has been preserved to our days that lead UNESCO to classify the city as a World Heritage site.
Sé Catedral de Évora
The largest medieval cathedral in Portugal.
A fortified church with Gothic features, Évora Cathedral is the largest cathedral in Portugal. Initiated in 1186, consecrated in 1204, and immediately used as one of the main temples of the Marian cult, it was only complete in 1250. It is a monument that showcases the transition from the Romanesque to the Gothic style, with Renaissance and Baroque additions introduced later.
You can also visit the gothic cloister, dated 1325, and climb to the terrace, from where you can enjoy a beautiful panorama over the entire city of Évora, since the Cathedral is located at its highest point.
Templo romano de Évora
The Roman Temple, over 2000 years old, is the ex-libris monument of Évora and is one of the most important historic ruins in the country.
The Roman temple in Évora was built in the first century, during the time of Caesar Augustus. It has a long history, serving as testimony to many transformations and different uses over the centuries. It was practically destroyed when the Barbarians occupied the Iberian peninsular in the fifth century, and served as a bank vault and butcher’s to Evora castle in the 14th century.Its original Roman design was only recovered in the 19th century, in one of the first archaeological interventions in Portugal.
Church of Graça
The Church of Graça was built in the 16th century, during the reign of D. João III, in accordance with architectural designs by Miguel de Arruda.
A unique monument, of Palladian influence, it highlights a robust character in its Mannerist façade, including a monumental doorway topped by a double fronton with angels above it. Four robust Atlas-style figures are placed around the four corners, symbolizing the four rivers (which the locals call, with a certain degree of irony, " the children of grace ").
Church of São Francisco
One of the striking features of the façade is a church porch with arches of different styles - a typical example of the "marriage" between Gothic and Moorish style found in so many monuments of this region in Portugal. One particularity of the Church is that it has a single nave, terminating in a ribbed vaulted ceiling, that has the largest span of all Portuguese Gothic architecture.
Inside, visitors can see the strange Bones Chapel, built during the Filippine period (17th-century). The pillars and walls are completely covered by bones. It's also worth noting the late Renaissance doorway where the capitals of the columns seem to be decorated in a different manner according to whether one is looking from the exterior or interior.