Portugal Guide: Evora

Evora's Roman temple, Portugal

Jardim de Diana. Evora's Roman temple, with the cathedral in the background and the church of Sao Joao on the left.

Portugal's second most interesting town - after Lisbon - and a World Heritage site set in the Alto Alentejo, offers a wide variety of historical monuments, from this Roman temple to large and intact Moorish walls, churches gleaming with gold and fine azulejos [Sao Joao and Misercordia], baroque giants [Nossa Senhora da Graca], gruesome bones and skulls decor [Sao Fransisco's Capela dos Ossos], or just elegant townhouses with balconies and arches.

The town's main square, Praca do Giraldo, has seen many public executions, including Inquisition burnings in the 16thC, and now sees a lot of wandering tourists and coffee sipping students. Evora is a lively town, partly thanks to 6,000 university students based there, and has a good selection of restaurants and accommodation.
If you arrive by car and have no prearranged hotel parking space and it's high season, park outside the walls in one of the big free carparks.
Only 20 minutes away by car are the lovely, lonely prehistoric stones, Cromeleque dos Almendres

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