Evora - The Jewel of Portugal’s Alentejo Region, Evora, Portugal

While most international visitors to Portugal head for the sun-drenched beaches of the Algarve and the cosmopolitan cities of Lisbon and Porto, the rural interior of the Alentejo region is often overlooked.

It’s a land filled with rolling hills, cork trees, olive groves and vines. With a liberal sprinkling of gorgeous fortified towns thrown in for good measure. Especially near the Spanish border where they remain a testament to the resistance of pesky Spanish incursions.

Of those towns, Évora is perhaps the best known and most-visited. A UNESCO World Heritage site since 1986, it represents the best example of a city from Portugal’s Golden Age.

Although it can be visited as a day trip from Lisbon, we’d suggest you make time to stay overnight if you can. And here’s what you can expect to see and do.

The city has been around since Roman times, as evidenced by fragments of its original wall and the still-standing columns of the Roman Temple of Diana.

But, after a period of Moorish occupation, its heyday was during Portugal’s Golden Age in the 15th Century, when kings would call the place home, giving rise to a plethora of magnificent convents and palaces.

Branching from its historic centre, narrow streets of small whitewashed houses began to emerge in the 17th Century. Along with a newly-constructed wall surrounding the historic centre to fend off the ever-present risk of attack. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).