EVORA TOURISM GUIDE
The World Heritage city's prehistoric monuments, a Roman temple and more
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Evora is one of Portugal's finest and most delightful towns.
It is a true open-air museum with a large number of wonderfully preserved
monuments and buildings of public interest that led UNESCO to protect it as
a World Heritage Site.
Each age has left its trace on Evora. It was the Celts who named it
Ebora and the Romans gave it its most famous landmark, the Temple
of Diana. Dating from the 2nd century, it is one of the Iberian
Peninsula's best preserved Roman monuments, raised on a 3m (10ft)-high stone
platform, with 14 of the original 18 granite Corinthian columns still
standing.
The whitewashed houses, arches, and twisting alleyways that characterize the
town reflect the Moorish presence.
The main square, Praça do Giraldo,
is the best place to start a visit. It was an execution ground during the
Inquisition, but is now filled with shops and cafés, and surrounded by
attractive townhouses with wrought-iron balconies. A fountain erected in
1571 in front of the Renaissance Santo Antão Church dominates one end
of this spacious square.
From there, the pedestrian Rua 5 de Outubro (lined with souvenir
shops) leads to the Roman temple and Loios Convent. The convent is
now a splendid pousada but anyone can visit its Gothic church founded
in 1485.
The towers of the Sé (cathedral),
built in 1186 (and where the flags of Vasco da Gama's ships were blessed
before his voyage to India), are seen from here. It is a blend of
Romanesque and Gothic, and on the portal are 14th century sculpted Apostles.
The Gothic interior has one of the longest naves found in any cathedral in
the country, measuring 70m(230ft), and has a large Renaissance organ,
thought to be the oldest in Europe. The Gothic cloister with statues of the
Evangelists and the Sacred Art Museum are worth seeing. Its most
precious item is a 13th century ivory Virgin whose body opens out to reveal
intricately carved scenes of her life in nine episodes. Visitors can also
climb up to the roof for a view over the town.
Adjacent to the cathedral is the City Museum, representing Evora's
long history through Roman columns, 16th-century paintings, and modern
sculpture. Among the paintings is a 15th century Holy Virgin with
Child by Alvaro Pires (he is one of the earliest identified Portuguese
artists although a number of his paintings are displayed in Pisa and
Florence in Italy).
A short walk behind the cathedral leads to the Jesuit University,
founded in 1559. It has elegant Renaissance marble cloisters and the
classroom entrances are decorated with tile panels representing each of the
subjects taught.
A staircase beside the cathedral leads down towards Porta da Moura
Square, a picturesque place to rest. It is surrounded by Moorish architecture and
has an interesting spherical Renaissance fountain dating from 1556.
As you walk around town you will come across some interesting churches.
One of the most eye-catching is Graça Church, a Renaissance building
that is unique in the Iberian Peninsula. Built in granite, it has four huge
figures supporting globes.
But of all the churches, the one that should not be missed is the Church of São Francisco.
It is a Manueline-Gothic structure completed around 1510, and legend has it
that Portuguese navigator Gil Vicente is buried in it.
Not buried, but on
display, are the bones and skulls of some 5000 people covering the walls and
columns of the church's Chapel of Bones. The creepiest sight is what
looks like the desiccated corpse of a child, hanging off to the right of the
entrance, where a sign reads "Nós ossos que aqui estamos, pelos vossos
esperamos," meaning "We bones that are here, await yours."
After that it is a good idea to take a little break in the delightful
public gardens near the church, which are also home to the 16th
century Dom Manuel Palace. Built in Gothic, Manueline, neo-Moorish,
and Renaissance styles, it was where Vasco da Gama received his commission to command the fleet that
would discover the sea route to India.
Outside the city walls on the road to the train station is Ermita de São
Brás ("Hermitage of St. Blaise"), an extraordinary building that looks
like a medieval castle, complete with large battlements, gargoyles, and
round buttresses. It was built in 1485 in thanksgiving for survival from
the plague.
Also outside the walls is the magnificent Silver Water Aqueduct.
Walk west from Giraldo Square along Rua do Cano to transverse it and take a
look at the houses that were built into its arches.
Around Evora are also numerous prehistoric monuments -- dozens of
sizeable Neolithic menhirs, cromlechs, and dolmens (the one in Zambujeiro,
now a national monument, is the largest in Europe, consisting of seven
stones, each 6m/20ft high, forming a huge chamber).
The Cromlech of Almendres dating from somewhere between 4000 and 2000
B.C has been called "the Portuguese Stonehenge." It is the most important
megalithic group in the Iberian Peninsula, consisting of a huge oval of
almost one hundred rounded granite monoliths, some engraved with symbolic
markings, assumed to have been used for cult purposes. They have their origins in a culture that flourished in the Iberian
Peninsula before spreading north as far as Brittany and Denmark.
A couple of kilometers east is the Cave of Escoural, a cave adorned
with charcoal drawings of horses and other animals, the work of Cro-Magnon
artists some 15,000 years ago. There are free tours organized on the site.
For more information about these sites, how to get to them, or to book
tours, visit the Evora Tourism Office.
One of Evora's restaurants is also famous throughout the country.
Apparently O Fialho's excellent traditional dishes are reason
enough to drive all the way from Lisbon for dinner.
Evora is less than 2 hours away from Lisbon (there are express buses
departing from the Sete Rios terminal), so it is a possible daytrip from the
capital. However, it makes an ideal base for touring the Alentejo
region and an overnight stay is highly recommended, as the town is
especially evocative when floodlit at night.
UNESCO says...Evora was declared a World Heritage Site because:"This museum-city, whose roots go back to Roman times, reached its golden age in the 15th century, when it became the residence of the Portuguese kings. Its unique quality stems from the whitewashed houses decorated with azulejos and wrought-iron balconies dating from the 16th to the 18th century. Its monuments had a profound influence on Portuguese architecture in Brazil." |
FIND EVORA HOTELS »
OR VISIT EVORA ON A TOUR FROM LISBON »
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Estremoz
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Lisbon - The
Age of Discovery, World Heritage monuments, museum treasures, vibrant
nightlife
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AROUND LISBON
AND TAGUS VALLEY Alcobaça Arrábida Azeitão Batalha Cascais Ericeira Estoril Fatima Leiria Mafra Nazaré Obidos Palmela Peniche Queluz Santarém Sesimbra Setubal Sintra Tomar |
ALENTEJO
Beja Castelo de Vide Elvas Estremoz Evora Marvão Mértola Monsaraz Vila Viçosa ALGARVE Albufeira Faro Lagos Sagres Silves Tavira Vila Real de Santo António Vilamoura |
BEIRAS (CENTRAL PORTUGAL)
Aveiro Belmonte Buçaco Coimbra Conimbriga Figueira da Foz Guarda Monsanto Piodão Serra da Estrela Viseu PORTO AND DOURO Amarante Lamego Porto |
MINHO
Barcelos Braga Gerês National Park Guimarães Ponte de Lima Ponte da Barca Viana do Castelo TRAS-OS-MONTES Bragança Chaves Vila Real THE ISLANDS Azores Madeira |