What to See When You Visit Evora, Portugal, Evora, Portugal

It’s our second visit to Évora, a beautiful town located in the heart of the Alentejo region in Portugal. We were actually on our way to Gibraltar to housesit for a cat. According to Google maps, Gibraltar is only a seven and a half hour drive from our home on the silver coast in Portugal, but we like to travel slow and have decided to take a couple of days to get there.

Evora, Portugal is well worth a visit. It’s a town with a long history, some excellent restaurants, and charming guesthouses. Here’s a list of some of the best places to visit in Évora.

The Capela dos Ossos aka Chapel of Bones is a fascinating yet rather macabre place to visit. It is one of Evora’s most visited sites. At the entrance to the chapel, you are greeted with a Portuguese inscription that translates as, “we, the bones that are here await yours.” Well, I think that’s how it translates, my Portuguese is still a little rusty!

The inside of the chapel is decorated from floor to ceiling, with skulls and more than 5,000 bones. It’s weird but incredibly beautiful at the same time. But why did they do this? Well, apparently during the 16th century, the graveyards around Evora were so full that the bones were exhumed so that new bodies could be buried. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).