A Day in Évora, Portugal's Unforgettable Corner

Hello friends. I want to tell you about my trip to Évora. Évora is an amazing town located in the Alentejo region of Portugal and inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. I was talking to a friend recently who told me that he visited this place and was not interested at all. So I decided to figure out who was right, my friend or the UNESCO experts. In this post I want to share my impressions with you.

Of course I need to give a little background about the history of this settlement. It emerged back in the Celtic era. Then the Romans came and founded a city here called Liberalitas Julia. Naturally I saw the Roman heritage today as well. In 1165 the Portuguese knight Geraldo the Fearless or Geraldo Sem Pavor reclaimed these lands from the Muslims. Ever since then this city became a Portuguese city in the literal sense of the word.

The 15th and 16th centuries became the golden age of the city when the royal court started visiting frequently. It was even said to be the unofficial capital of Portugal at the time. An aqueduct, the Royal Palace and many other structures were built here.

We started our journey at the Church of Saint Francis, Igreja de São Francisco. Franciscan monks arrived here in the 12th century. There was a monastery here and a portion of it stil stands. The building we see today was constructed around the 15th century. The building features a mixed architectural style, Late Gothic, Portuguese Manueline style, since construction was completed during the reign of King Manuel I and elements of Mudéjar aesthetics. The church has a single nave and is quite voluminous and spacious. There are various chapels on the left and right and further ahead lies a very richly decorated altar.

I really liked the meeting room where the Third Order Assembly of these Franciscan brothers of faith took place. Naturally everything there, like in other areas of the church, is decorated with azulejo tiles. Its carved wooden altar and the highly detailed, wonderful paintings on the ceiling are very very impressive.

Of course I have seen enough churches in Portugal. But the main attraction here is the Chapel of Bones, Capela dos Ossos, located on the right side. This is a chapel lined inside with real human bones. The thing is, in the Middle Ages, with the arrival of the royal court, the city began to grow very rapidly and space became insufficient. They decided to use the cemeteries for urban development. So what were they going to do with the bones? They decided to use them as a construction material and even as decoration. The remains of 5000 humans literally decorate the walls of this chapel today. At the entrance you are greeted by the inscription, We bones that are here await yours.

Although many people find this disrespectful or contrary to sacred values, the clergy explained it quite logically, saying that in this way these people became closer to God. Although this chapel originated in the 16th century, the paintings on the ceiling were made much later, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

A few steps away from the Church of Saint Francis lies a public park that used to be a royal park. Here we saw the structure that was once the Royal Palace. More precisely, the part of it known as the Ladies Gallery, Paço das Damas. Unfortunately the main palace disappeared in the mid 19th century, but its brightest period coincided with the reign of Manuel I the Fortunate. So the palace naturally possesses Manueline lines and partially Mudéjar aesthetics.

Another noticeable thing in this park is the ruins. They look real, but they are actually fake ruins built in the 19th century. During that period romantic ruins were very popular. People collected stones and architectural elements from old monasteries and structures to build such fake romantic ruins so that ladies could go for walks and indulge in romantic thoughts.

I should mention a few more things about the Church of Saint Francis. Apart from the church itself and the fascinating Chapel of Bones, there is a religious art museum and a fantastic nativity scene, Vertep or Presepio, exhibition there. To be honest, I have never seen so many nativity scenes made in different styles and techniques anywhere else. I did not even think it was something that could be collected. And there is a terrace offering a beautiful view of Évora, so I definitely recommend stopping by.

Our next stop is Giraldo Square, Praça do Giraldo, the main square of the historical center of Évora. It takes its name from Geraldo the Fearless. In the past this square was a place of worship and later Christmas celebrations started to be held here, as they still are today. A tree is set up here for Christmas and those nativity scenes I mentioned are displayed. By the way, a model of the setup in this square is also present in the Chapel of Bones.

The square is interesting because it is the place where we can see the color palette of Évora most clearly. The city is mostly white. Almost all buildings are white, with very interesting yellow or yellowish brown, ochre, details around the door and portal frames. This is not a coincidence. According to legends, yellow is the color of gold and attracts wealth. It is also believed that yellow wards off evil spirits. According to another rumor, it keeps insects away, which is hard to believe.

Speaking of spirits, until the 19th century this place was not named Giraldo Square, as Geraldo's services to Évora were only recognized in the 19th century, but simply Great Square. It was in this Great Square that the Portuguese Inquisition executed thousands of people whom it declared heretics. Considering the Inquisition activities across Europe, the correctness of these decisions is certainly debatable, but it is said that as many as 20000 people were executed here. That is terrifying. Apparently the residents of the nearby houses decided to paint their homes yellow to protect themselves from the evil spirits emitted by those who were executed.

Another interesting structure here is this wonderful fountain built in the second half of the 15th century. For a long time it was almost the only clean water source accessible to the city residents. It features eight mascarons, face figures, through which clean water flows. Why eight? Because eight streets open into Giraldo Square. They designed the fountain with such simple logic.

Behind the fountain we saw the Church of Saint Anthony. It stands out as extremely symmetrical and impressive with its two magnificent bell towers.

Then we visited the cathedral. There are exceptions to every rule. But in this case, the exception appeared before the rules. I am talking about the Cathedral of Évora, Sé de Évora. Its construction began as soon as Geraldo reclaimed the city, in the second half of the 12th century and was completed in the 13th century. That is a very fast timeframe for a medieval cathedral. It is considered the largest medieval cathedral in Portugal and one of the largest in Europe. It is made entirely of granite, its walls and roof are all granite. Unlike the Church of Saint Anthony, it features distinct, asymmetrical towers. One has a bell tower, while the other has a different structure.

The cathedral was naturally built on the highest point of Évora. At that time none of those white and yellow buildings existed, of course. And as is traditional with cathedrals, although it was completed in the 13th century, additions and renovations were made continuously until the 18th century.

Therefore alongside the Romanesque style in its architecture, there are also Mannerist and Baroque elements in the interior. For example, the altar made of colorful marble was built in the 18th century and is in the Baroque style. By the way the marble was brought from the neighboring Estremoz region, which is famous for its marble deposits.

The Portuguese did not have to search hard to find the highest point in the city because the Romans had found it before them. The Romans had built their own temple just 100 meters away from the cathedral. Or let us say the Portuguese built their cathedral 100 meters away from the Roman temple.

This temple was built in the 1st century AD. Later for some reason, it was called the Temple of Diana, but it was not so in antiquity, it was just a Roman temple. Its front facade features 6 preserved Corinthian columns. After antiquity, quite amusing things happened to this temple and over time it was used for almost everything. It became a market, a slaughterhouse, an armory.

However as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining. The misuse of the temple for these purposes ensured its relatively good preservation. Because while being used as all these buildings, the spaces between the columns were bricked up. In other words, the columns were literally taken under protection inside the walls. In the 19th century they decided to demolish these walls, clean the columns and turn this place into a monument.

This is one of the best preserved Roman temples in Portugal, perhaps even in the world. The Portuguese are really great at preserving their heritage from different eras. They assign modern functions to historical buildings. For example, the Monastery of Évora is currently a hotel and the Palace of the Dukes of Cadaval is now a museum hosting modern art exhibitions. Indian modern art is currently on display there.

There are many museums in Évora. The Eugénio de Almeida Foundation is one of them, hosting modern art exhibitions in historical buildings. Culture is very rich here. That is probably why Évora was awarded the title of European Capital of Culture for 2027. This place was actually the Inquisition building. Those criminals who executed 20.000 people in Giraldo Square sat here and made their decisions. The historical courtroom still stands. From the small room of the inquisitor, only a painted wooden ceiling remains. The building has been fantastically redesigned with modern spatial, color and lighting solutions.

Water came to the fountain in Giraldo square thanks to an aqueduct built in the 16th century. This aqueduct was constructed in a short period of 6 years and is named Água de Prata, Silver Water. Some say thi name was given because the water was very clean, while other sources state it was nicknamed this because its construction was extremely expensive. Still we should be thankful they did not call it Golden Water like the yellow decorations on the white houses of Évora.

The length of this aqueduct is over 6 kilometers. As it approaches the city, the height of the arches decreases. Once the aqueduct enters the city, houses begin to be built between these arches. In other words the city literally swallows the aqueduct, integrates it into itself and houses are embedded directly inside the arches. I have never seen anything like this anywhere else before and I think it is unbelievably interesting.

Évora is the center of the Alentejo region. Alentejo is the largest wine region in Portugal. There are many wineries worth visiting in the surrounding area. The closest one is Cartuxa, just a few kilometers away. That is also where the aqueduct begins. When you come to Évora, do not forget to add this enological, wine related, part to your itinerary.

At the end of our walk I will mention a rather subtle attraction. I mentioned Álvaro Siza earlier. In Évora he did not just stop at the ceramic panel in the Chapel of Bones, he also carried out a comprehensive social housing project here. After the 1974 Revolution there was a major housing shortage. Siza, who was still young at the time, was invited to design an entire neighborhood called Malagueira.

About 1200 housing units were planned here. These were row houses, townhouse style, modest and typical structures. The main idea was that over time the homeowners could expand or modify these houses. Indeed, we see this happening here. It cannot be said to be very flashy, but there is one detail that makes this neighborhood stand out, this technical canal that serves as a nod to the historical Silver Water Aqueduct.

This technical canal does not just carry water, it holds all infrastructure and communication lines within it. This was a solution designed to lower infrastructure costs, as water, electricity and sewage all pass through this canal. To someone who does not know its story, it might look like a somewhat controversial view, but if you know it is one of the first major projects by the great Portuguese Pritzker prize winning architect, it is definitely worth a visit if you are interested in architecture.

If you are interested in history in general, you should definitely visit Évora. I hope I have convinced you how right the UNESCO experts were in 1986 when they declared Évora a World Heritage Site of our civilization. See you on the next trip.