Evora - Part 2 - Origins to the 12th Century

15 November 2007

Although archaeological remains predating the Roman period have not been found, the name EBORA and its strategic hilltop location at the confluence of 3 rivers, suggests that its settlement predates the Roman period. Its integration into the Roman administrative framework, with the granting of “municipum” status and the adoption of the name Ebora Liberalitas Julia only occurred when Julius Caesar led an expedition to the Iberian Peninsula. Following two centuries of war the Pax Romana allowed Emperor Augustus to undertake a wide ranging programme of administrative reform in the peninsula. It is at this period that the shape of the Roman town appeared here, with Ebola as part of the Roman province of Lusitania. Its main public buildings were built, but with the exception of the Imperial Temple and the Public Baths few vestiges of this era remain.

Situated at the north end of the forum, the temple, popularly known as the Temple of Diana, was built in the 1^st Century A.D. Its massive size (24 by 14 meters) suggests it must have been dedicated to the cult of Emperor Augustus. Its current appearance is the result of late 19^th Century to remove medieval additions which had disfigured it. This work revealed some of its granite columns, marble footings and marble Corinthian column heads.

That so much of it remains is an accident of history. After the decline of the Empire, the temple was enclosed with exterior walls and turned into an abattoir or slaughterhouse. The exterior walls protected the temple from total demolition.

Recent excavations show that part of the Temple was surrounded by open tanks of water creating a mirror effect, and that the Temple was surrounded by a monumental portico gallery.

Parts of the Roman Baths have been excavated under this building, the current city hall.

Legend has it that there was a Centurion’s Palace in the square of the current city hall. The recent excavation of the baths under the seat of city government supports this idea. In any event these were large public baths. The heated room or “laconicum” is well preserved with a large circular tank used for very hot baths.

With the subsequent disintegration of the Roman Empire, ravaged by new waves of Germanic invaders, Évora seems to have entered a long period of decline and few archeological remains provide evidence of the Visigoth era. Once again benefiting from its strategic location, the city gained a degree of economic and political importance during the Islamic era. The city walls were reconstructed and a Moorish castle and mosque were built on the ruins of the public buildings of the Roman Acropolis. The urban fabric became denser, hiding the grid-iron pattern of the Roman city and assuming a convergent radial form deriving from new patterns of life. The street system today is largely a result of this era. The Christian conquest of 1165 brought Évora into the Kingdom of Portugal; the Cathedral replaced the Mosque, and the Moorish Castle became a Christian stronghold.