Evora - Part 3 - Medieval - 12th to 16th Centuries

16 November 2007

The origins of the city lead back to unrecorded time, before the^st century A.D.).^th and 16^thnd city of the country, the normal seat of the royal court and the haunt of kings, nobles, artists and thinkers. Roman occupation (1 centuries, Évora rose to become the 2 However it is only after the Christian conquest (following the Visigoths and the Moors) that the town began to grow and great buildings started to appear. During the 15

Following the Christian conquest the town occupied essentially the same area as during the Roman and Moslem periods. From this ancient hub, the city grew, extending outside the ancient city walls to new urban areas that would be incorporated within the new walls built during the 16^th century. During this medieval period it is in the ancient hub that the key buildings are found; the Cathedral (see earlier entry), the original town hall, the Roman Temple (adapted early in this period into an abattoir for slaughter of animals), and some of the oldest palaces of Évora, the home of the local nobles.

The expansion included the establishment of Christian religious orders and their monasteries and convents, adding new buildings in privileged places, as the urban growth tended to spread out fan like outside the gates in the ancient town walls. The Jewish quarter also occupied a privileged site, due to its important economic role. The Moorish Quarter, reflecting its diminished social and economic status following their defeat, was located on the outskirts of the new urban development.

By the beginning of the 16^th century, the spatial divisions of the town reflected the balance between spiritual and temporal power (church and state). The “town center” was markedly religious, with the Cathedral, the Bishop’s Palace (now the city museum), and in the 2^nd half of the 16^th century the Palace of the Inquisition and the High Inquisitor. If you’re not familiar with the Inquisition that pervaded the Roman Catholic church take a moment to Google it.

The temporal power center developed simultaneously with buildings for the town hall, the jail, the Royal Pousada and the new abattoir (relocated from the Roman Temple) - all located in the Grand Square (Praça Grande).

The Church of São Francisco, built between 1480 and 1510, during the medieval era is a good example of the ingenuity and innovation of Portuguese architects and engineers during this era. This structure is noteworthy for its technical daring and structural novelties. It represents the wealth of the Portuguese court and upper classes during this period of Portuguese overseas expansion and exploitation.

Constructed with one magnificent, high, arched nave instead of the more usual 3 naves in the shape of a Latin cross (“t”), its styling is closer to the Gothic churches of the Mediterranean – Catalonia and southern France. The single wide nave has an arched broken-cradle ceiling with penetrations.

The linkage to Portuguese overseas expansion is symbolized by the girded globe on the right over the main door and arches. The wealth flowing from this expansion helped the Kings from João III to Manuel to fund the construction.

The Franciscan church, of the same name, on this site dates to 1224. In the 15^th century it was often used as a residence by the Portuguese court, and this seems to have been part of the reason for the Kings’ support of the building of the later church. Adjacent to the “new” church is the Franciscan Chapel of Bones.

Over the arched entrance to the chapel the following words are inscribed, “We Bones That Are Here, Are Waiting for Yours”.

The Franciscans used it as place to pray and meditate about death. The chapel was built in the 16^th century with bones from the town’s graves. The interior is completely covered with human bones and has the solemn, gloomy, tragic, claustrophobic atmosphere of a crypt.

On the right of the altar are the sarcophagus of the convent founder and the grave of Bishop Jacinto Carlos da Silveira, killed by Napoléon’s soldiers in 1808.

The foyer leading to the bones chapel beside the Church of St. Francis is decorated with tiles depicting the Stations of the Cross.