Portugal Trip 7; Évora

Saturday 12th April 2025

Today we travelled further south, to the larger town of Évora. On the way, we saw some storks, nesting on the top of telegraph poles:

And just a little further on, we were diverted across a new, seemingly temporary bridge made of sewer pipes, as the old stone, eight arched bridge had been damaged:

We later passed near the fortified hill town of Estremoz, which is within another star-shaped fort:

When we arrived in Évora we were able to park up on a large area of flat sandy land, next to the Monument to the Dead of the Great War, where we are able to spend the night.

We shared the park-up space with a circus big top, the music from which kept us “entertained” for a while until the end of the performance.

Évora is the capital of Portugal’s south-central Alentejo region. In the city’s historic centre stands the ancient Roman Temple of Évora (also called the Temple of Diana).

We enjoyed a fine beer just the other side of the temple, next to a terraced garden area:

We also visited the Convent and Church of St. Francis. The church building is highly ornate with many side-altars.

In the Convent buildings, alongside the church, there is a chapel and museum. The chapel is known as “The Chapel of Bones”, or “Capela dos Ossos”:

The interior walls of this small, 16th-century chapel are lined with the bones & skulls of monks, but many of the skulls seem very small and I think they must be the bones of children.

The museum holds many precious religious paintings and statues, but they also had on display, a collection of nativity scenes, many from around the world, including Deft, Holland. Some of the most interesting ones are pictured below:

This is a tourist-town, and as you might expect, there are a good number of souvenir shops, many of which sell locally produced Portuguese ceramics:

Wandering around the town, we came across a couple of unusual shops.

There is also a speciality canned fish retailer, who only sell a range of tinned fish, but at a high price. The cheapest can of fish, is over 9 €, but many are more expensive. You could buy a presentation variety box of 6, for around 60 €.

The public gardens, which were part of the royal palace and have the town walls running through them, have peacocks and hens roaming around.

On our way back to the park-up, we came across some teenagers playing hopscotch. I have never seen this played since being at school myself.

That’s it. TTFN.