Best things to do in Évora
Find out more about those top places in Évora
Located deep in the historic heart of Portugal, Évora is a hidden gem where the medieval world comes to life. There are few towns as unspoiled as Évora in Europe, as its Moorish streets, old world tenements, gothic cathedral and medieval aqueduct have remained remarkably unchanged for nearly 800 years. The town’s history goes back even further with the evocative central square built around fourteen ruined Corinthian columns dating to the Roman era. While it comes as no surprise that the town has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, today Évora is a sleepy market town with a population less than that of the medieval period. However, on the first Tuesday of every month the town comes alive with a huge open-air market held where the finest produce from Southern Portugal is traded.
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Capela dos Ossos
Capela dos Ossos, which is Portuguese for "chapel of bones" was built long ago in the 15th century. Today, it is one of the most visited tourist attraction sites in the city. As the name suggests, this chapel was built with the bones of an estimated 5000 corpses. Just before the chapel was built, the tombs in Évora couldn't hold all the dead anymore so the bones of the long dead had to be exhumed for new corpses to replace them. The exhumed bones were then cemented together to build the ancient piece that we have today.
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Roman Temple of Évora
Évora has had its own fair share of rulers and because of this it has a number of diverse and interesting histories. This is why the town has many ancient structures that are pieces of evidence of Évora's past. Of these structures is the Roman Temple of the goddess Diana, a UNESCO world heritage site. This temple is one of the most preserved Roman temples in the country.
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Almendres Cromlech
This site was built about 6000 years ago in the stone age. Many resources were invested in building this site, making it the largest megalithic site in all the Iberian peninsula until today. The site was built with more than 90 stones, and if you look closely, you would see that some of these stones still bear inscriptions on them.
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Cathedral of Évora
The Cathedral of Évora is the oldest monument in all of Évora and it sits on a hill in the city. The cathedral has many interesting sights for tourists, such as a cathedral museum which holds everything about the history of the place. Being the most important cathedral, it is the seat of the Archdiocese of Évora.
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Great Dolmen of Zambujeiro
The great tomb of Zambujeiro was erected to keep the corpse of the biggest history makers. As a matter of fact, this tomb is the biggest tomb on the Iberian Peninsula. A mere look at the grand structure of this building already gives away the fact that many resources was invested in constructing the tomb.
