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Évora |
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ÉVORA is one of the most impressive cities in Portugal, its
provincial atmosphere the perfect setting for a range of memorable and
often intriguing monuments. The Romans were in occupation for four
centuries and the Moors, who settled for just as long, have left their
stamp in the tangle of narrow alleys which rise steeply among the
whitewashed houses. Most of the monuments, however, date from the
fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, when, with royal encouragement,
the city was one of the leading centres of Portuguese art and
architecture.
Used as a slaughterhouse until 1870, the Temple of Diana in the central
square is the best-preserved Roman temple in Portugal, its stark remains
consisting of a small platform supporting more than a dozen granite
columns with a marble entablature. Directly opposite, the former
Convento dos Lóios , now converted into a luxuriant pousada , has been
partly attributed to Francisco de Arruda, architect of the Tower of
Belém in Lisbon. To the left of the pousada lies the church of the
convent, dedicated to São João Evangelista . This is the private
property of the ducal Cadaval family, who still occupy a wing or two of
the adjacent ancestral palace. Wait outside and you should be admitted
(Tues-Sun 10am-12.30pm & 2-5pm; ¬2.50) to see its azulejos (decorative
tiling), trick paintings and ossuary.
The Cathedral , or Sé (daily 9am-12.30pm & 2-5pm), was begun in 1186,
about twenty years after the reconquest of Évora from the Moors, and the
Romanesque solidity of its two huge square towers and battlemented
roofline contrasts sharply with the pointed Gothic arches of the porch
and central window. The interior is more straightforwardly Gothic,
although the choir and high altar were remodelled in the eighteenth
century. Adjacent, in the archbishop's palace, is the excellent Museu de
Évora (Tues-Sun 10am-12.30pm & 2-5pm; ¬1.50), which houses important
collections of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Flemish and Portuguese
paintings assembled from the city's churches and convents.
Perhaps the most memorable sight in Évora is the Capela dos Ossos
(Chapel of Bones; 9am-1pm & 2.30-5.30/6.30pm; ¬1.50) in the church of
São Francisco , close to the bus station. A gruesome reminder of
mortality, the walls and pillars of this chilling chamber are entirely
covered with the bones of more than 5000 monks; an inscription over the
door reads, "Nós ossos que aqui estamos, Pelos vossos esperamos" (We
bones here are waiting for your bones). Another interesting feature of
this church is its large porch, which combines pointed, rounded and
horseshoe arches in a manner typical of Manueline architecture.
Appropriately enough, the restored Palácio de Dom Manuel - the king who
gave his name to the style - lies no more than a minute's walk away, in
the Jardim Público.
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