The Alentejo, where beats the secret heart of the country

Evora, a magnificent historic center

150 km northeast of Lisbon, Evora has always been one of the most important cities in the country. Its historic heart, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a veritable open-air museum, testifying to the different periods of its history.

Visiting Evora is like a journey through 2000 years of history to discover an architectural heritage left by the different cultures that have marked the city. Each period of the country's history has left its mark, the Romans, the Visigoths, the Moors, the Spaniards... Even if there are no Muslim remains, Mudejar art can be seen in the fountains, arcades, gardens .

Whitewashed houses (the color is allowed only for the base and the frames in order to ward off evil spirits) highlight the exceptional architectural heritage: Roman temple, medieval and Renaissance palaces, 21 monasteries, 40 churches, aqueduct … The whole city is captivated by the harmonious whole of the different styles of architecture. Two less glorious buildings are also on the program of visits: the first tribunal of the Inquisition and the very macabre chapel of bones with walls and vaults lined with human bones.

We begin our visit at the top of the historic city. On the Conde de Vila Flor square where, among other buildings, the "museum of horrible memory" is located, namely the Tribunal of the Inquisition, the Roman temple and a very beautiful hotel, the "Pousada dos Loios", set up in a old monastery. The receptionist allows us to take a look inside this beautiful building which retains its original architecture. We felt like we were in a museum rather than a hotel. The former cloister, a place of meditation for the monks, now houses a swimming pool to ensure the comfort of travellers.

Just opposite, the columns of a Roman temple dating from the 2nd century AD recall the presence of the Romans. The bases and capitals are in Estremoz marble. Over time, it was modified, partially destroyed (but 14 columns are still standing), and, from the 16th to the 19th century, even served as a slaughterhouse and butchery!

A few steps further, stands the impressive cathedral of a Gothic-archaic style in granite, on the former square of the mosque. During the reconquest of the city by Christianity, the mosque was destroyed to build a church dedicated to the Virgin, the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption, simply called "Sé" by the Portuguese (for "Basilica Sé Catedral de Nossa Senhora da Assunçao”).

Two different medieval towers that flank the portal, a large central dome, three large naves, chapels decorated with marbles of different colors, frescoes, altarpieces, polychrome stone or wooden statues, a 16th century organ, a cloister, a museum of sacred art… better to take your time (and a guide) to discover the 1001 treasures housed in the largest cathedral in Portugal!

Baptistery in a single block of twisted marble in a Manueline style,

The central dome: a pine-shaped tower surrounded by pinnacles

Among the treasures of the cathedral, two pregnant virgins, one of which is painted dating from the 15th century in a baroque frame from the 18th century: According to our guide, the cult of the pregnant Virgin Mary is due to the high mortality rate of women and infants during the childbirth in the Middle Ages. Future mothers have therefore put themselves under the protection of the Virgin, a mother (almost) like them.

But the life of the city is not frozen in the past. The capital of Upper Alentejo welcomes nearly 8,000 students for a population of 50,000 inhabitants. A visit to the university is a must.

This building constitutes a true museum of the azulejo so much the walls of staircases, the cloisters, the classrooms, the refectory… are decorated with these enamelled ceramic tiles which had then vocation of educational support.

As for the professors, they gave their lessons from the pulpit, the chair. Hence the expression, according to our guide, “to hold a chair”.

Founded in 1551 by João III, the “College of the Holy Spirit of the Society of Jesus” was transformed into a faculty run by the Jesuits in 1559. After Coimbra, it was the second university in Portugal. For 200 years, their teaching radiated until the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1759 and it was not until 1979 that Evora regained its (public) university.

By Rua Cinco de Outubro we go down to Praça do Giraldo square. The small street is lined with (pretty) souvenir shops and local crafts. Plaza do Giraldo is the meeting point of the city with its terraces, cafés and shops under the arcades.

A few steps further, we admire the facade of the old Igreja da Graça church dating from the 16th century. Its portico is surmounted by a pediment decorated with angels carrying the Earth and we can see Atlanteans. This magnificent building of Renaissance architecture is classified as a National Monument. The former convent and its church are used by the Portuguese armed forces.

Unless you do an ecclesiastical marathon to visit the 40 churches of Evora, there is one that is unmissable, the Church of São Francisco. But tourists go there less for its Gothic and Manueline style than for its surprising Chapel of Bones with walls, pillars and vaults covered with bones and skulls.

This macabre “meditation chapel” was created by a Franciscan in the 17th century in place of an old dormitory to encourage monks, but not only them, to meditate on death and life after. It took about 5,000 skeletons to cover the chapel and the “raw material” existed in excess following epidemics of the plague. The inscription above the entrance door warns the visitor: “We, the bones here, wait for yours to join us”.

Before leaving our bones there, let's wait a little longer and rather admire, at the exit of the church, the representation of the Nativity which places the birth of Jesus in Evora. There are houses of the city but also some churches, the aqueduct and, of course, the Roman temple.