What to see in Évora

Portugal It is a small and beautiful country so we continue to visit some of its best corners. Today it is the turn of Évora, a city that is part of a select group: it is one of the oldest cities in Europe.

Évora has its historic center Heritage since 1986, so you can get an idea of ​​what you are going to find if you decide to take a walk this summer. So what do you think if we see what to see in Évora?

Évora

Where is this small city of just over 50 inhabitants? It's found in the Alentejo region, in the south central area of ​​the country, an area with Mediterranean climate that allows, for example, the cultivation of the cork oak, the tree that produces the cork. Portugal, by the way, is the world's largest producer and takes something like 70%.

Évora it is just over 300 kilometers from Porto and only 132 from Lisbon, the capital of the country. If you are on the Spanish side, it is 290 kilometers from Seville and 500 from Madrid. It is not difficult to get there and because of its location it is that it has many centuries of history. Those centuries, precisely, are what have endowed him with so many cultural treasures, both Roman and medieval.

In Roman times, for example, it had a great growth and urban improvement of which survives the roman temple probably dedicated to the emperor and the ruins of the typical old public toilets. Also, you can visit the remains of a Roman Village, today within a parish. Sadly, this is the only thing left from those distant years of splendor. Later came the Visigoth and Moorish times that also left their traces.

From the Romans then you can see the ruins of the temple that have remained in the Plaza Conde Vila Flor, in the center of the city, dating from the XNUMXst century. A striking group of columns that allows you to see which temple it was. There are also the remains of the baths or baths from the XNUMXrd century and parts of the old wall, which has nothing to do with the medieval and later wall.

Thus, on the Roman ruins the Muslims, for example, shaped a mosque and even alcazar. When the Muslims were expelled another stage of growth began and here the medieval buildings that we see everywhere today began to appear: the Cathedral of Évora, the town hall and a group of noble palaces. Let's see:

The Cathedral of Évora is called Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption and its construction began after the reconquest of the city in 1186. It is a building between the Romanesque and Gothic style that through the centuries has undergone many changes. The façade is made of pink granite, with columns crowned by marble statues of apostles dating from the XNUMXth century, a Gothic window on the narthex that brings light to the interior, and a tall spire.

The temple is in the shape of a Latin cross, with three naves and an upper floor which is accessed by a beautiful spiral staircase and from which the views are stupendous. It looks like something out of a fairy tale. Another religious building is the Iglesia de San Francisco, in the Gothic-Manueline style, dating from the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries. It is said that this church was the first house of the Order of San Francisco in the country.

The church has battlements and towers and inside ten side chapels with gilded altarpieces and beautiful stucco work. In the main chapel today there is a marble altarpiece and in different chapels you will see other treasures. You can't leave without visiting the call Chapel of bones, built in the XNUMXth century, built by a monk who wanted to convey that life was ephemeral (we, the bones that are here, we wait for yours, he says there, a little gloomy). Obviously, there are bones everywhere.

With respect to palaces of the local aristocracy excels the Don Manuel Palace or old Royal Palace of San Francisco, built by Alfonso V but inhabited by several monarchs over time until it was destroyed at the end of the XNUMXth century. It seems that it was a whole palace although today there is only the call Ladies Gallery, Manueline style: a rectangular building, with tiled rooms and wrought iron balconies, a two-story tower and a Mudejar-style room.

This was where Vasco da Gama agreed to command the fleet in search of the sea route to India. Another palace is the Palace of the Dukes of Cadaval, there is also the Palace of the Counts of Basto and the good thing is that they are all open to the public because they have been turned into museums. Another corner of Évora is the Água de Prata Aqueduct from the 9th century and that covers an impressive XNUMX kilometers.

Going much further back in time you can even move around and get to know the Menhir de los Almendres or the Crómlech de los Almendres, both members of the Évora Megalithic Circuit. Do not leave out the ride Évora Museum, with its collection of art and archeology of the city or the very interesting forum of the Eugenio de Almeida Foundation. On the other hand is the Museum of Sacred Art of the cathedral itself, the Carriage Museum or Traditional Arts Center.

Évora and Alentejo are characterized by utensils made of clay, cork, leather, iron or horn, tiles, earthenware, embroidery or tapestries. Then you can see all this in that center, in the shops and in the Museum of Crafts and Design.

Finally, before heading back, why don't you make a hot air flight ride, a walk through nature or a walk through the beautiful Évora Public Garden to contemplate the Walls of Évora under the color of the flowers?


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