23 October 2022 - Evora

Miles driven today = 0

Total Miles to date = 2,555

Evora has variously been inhabited by the Celts, the Romans, the Moors and the Christians.  It therefore has had multiple influences and has been granted UNESCO World Heritage Status due to its unspoilt nature as a classic Portuguese historical town.  According to the Rough Guide the modern population is circa 56,000 which is actually less than it was in medieval times when Evora was a centre of great power and influence.

We downloaded a walking tour on Google Maps and headed to the closest gate in the city wall, to the South West.

First port of call was the Franciscan Monastery, which is a museum these days, and the first room you enter is the macabre Chapel of Bones.

We've visited a similar Chapel in Rome when we were there a few years ago but weren't allowed to take photos then.  There are no such restrictions here.

The Chapel was built in the early 17th Century to house the bones which the monks had dug up belonging to their deceased brethren.

These were supposedly the mummified remains of a father and young son who mistreated the boy's mother.  She cursed them on her deathbed that their bodies would never decompose.  Both corpses have latterly been found to in fact be female.

Most of the remainder of the museum is given over to religious art and iconography, much like we have seen elsewhere.  A lot of the church's most precious items were however stolen by the French when they invaded Evora in 1808.

Bizarrely there is also a collection of nativity scenes, which have been put together by a local retired army General and his wife.  Only a relatively small selection are on display.  In all the collection has 2,600 scenes comprising 68,000 individual figures.

This huge example in the front foyer includes a lot of Evora's landmarks.

I really liked this one created from different colours of terracotta.

I believe the Holy family in this one may have had a drop too much of the communion wine.

And I don't even know where to start with this one featuring Shaun the Sheep and friends and their magic mushrooms.

We popped outside for a view over the rooftops.

This is what the church and monastery exterior looks like.

And this is inside the church with all the finery which the French didn't pilfer.

This was the entrance to the gardens of the Palace of Dom Manuel I.

The Praca de Giraldo is the main plaza in the centre of Evora with the Church of Santa Antao.

The narrow, twisting streets and alleys are a legacy of the Moorish occupation of the town.

The Roman Temple of Evora was built in the 1st Century AD.  

It was believed to have been dedicated to Diana, goddess of hunting, but this is no longer thought to be the case.

The Palace of Sao Miguel.

More tiny cobbled streets in the northern portion of the town.

The aqueduct which used to bring in the town's water supply.  

Houses have been built into some of the arches.

Further uphill the arches are less impressive.

We headed back into the town centre in search of lunch and spotted a medieval restaurant with an interesting menu.  I nearly went for the pigs trotters but ultimately we both chose a dish of pork and clams.  It was a tad short on veg but very tasty.  We also shared a bottle of wine so the decision was made not to do any driving today once the sightseeing was finished.

During our morning tour we had noticed that the Duchal Palace of the Cadaval family, next to the Roman Temple, had an exhibition of Yves Saint Laurent's work relating to how he was heavily influenced by the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.  Having visited the city in 1966 he was so taken by it that he built a home just outside the Medina walls.  We have been there.  Our visit coincided with me falling ill with the worst case of food poisoning I've ever had.  So my claim to fame is that I have actually thrown up in Yves Saint Laurent's loo.

I digress.  In the Chapel attached to the Duchal Palace was an exhibition of 14 designs which were apparantly inspired by the colours of Marrakesh.

I have to confess that I was as taken by the Chapel itself as I was by the dresses.  The painted tile work dates from 1711 and they claim it to be amongst the most important in the country.

The balcony is where the Cadaval family would observe mass looking down on their subjects as it connects directly with the Palace next door.

In the Palace itself there were galleries of predominantly modern art and sculptures by Moroccan artists, so the link to Yves Saint Laurent did seem a little tenuous here.

I liked these stained glass pieces.  We also went to an upstairs room and laid on beanbags while a strange audio visual work about stethoscopes and toasters had us totally bemused.

We took an alternative route back to the van, walking past the Se (Cathedral).  This was apparently first built just a few years after the city was re-taken from the Moors and so it was castellated to defend it in case the Moors tried to take it back.

And this is the Graca Church.

The statues looked far from graceful.  More like a bunch of shouty old drunks exposing themselves after a session on the Special Brew.

Last night while we were in the van we could hear birds chattering very loudly in the olive grove next to us but because it was raining we didn't investigate.  This evening we've realised that we have a full on starling murmuration going on right outside the van.  How about that for a freebie!

24 October 2022 - Serpa