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EVORA
MONUMENTS |
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1. GIRALDO SQUARE |
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 Center
of the city, where, throughout the centuries, the most important
secular and religious celebrations have taken place. In this square
King D. Duarte built the Estaus Palace (which even today maintains
its Gothic look), the HENRIQUINA FOUNTAIN and ST. ANTON'S CHURCH,
from the 16th century, constructions to whitch the Royal Architects
Miguel de Arruda, Manuel Pires ans Afonso Álvares contributed. In
the temple, of late Renaissance style, hangs painting of the Alms,
attributed to Jerónimo Corte Real, the Portuguese Virgil. Corte Real
was also the author of the epic poems O Segundo Cerco de Diu and
Naufrágio de Sepúlveda (The Second Siege of Diu and The Shipwreck of
Sepulveda). He was buried in Évora on November 16, 1588.
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2. EVORA MUSEUM |
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 This
museum exhibits important works of art and archaeology, namely sculpture
and paintings, relative to the golden age of the Portuguese Expansion.
Among the works are the allegorical stone sculpture of the Discoveries,
the coat of arms of Portugal ans Évora and the marble grave
of D. Duarte da Costa, governor of Brazil, attributed to Chanterene.
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3. THE MOURA'S GATE SQUARE |
 The
fountain is a Renaissance work of 1556, attributed to the architect
Diogo de Torralva. BELVEDERE OF THE CORDOVIL HOUSE. Delicate work of
Manueline-Moorish style, it is next to the home of Cantor Manuel
Severim de Faria, author of studies dedicated to the Portuguese
discoveries, and in which he founded the academy of the
Surroundings, which dealt principally with topics of historic and
literary interest.
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4. CATHEDRAL |
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 Monument
of Roman-Gothic transitional architecture, with three majestic
naves. This monument is connected to many of the great spiritual and
cultural events of Portugal. It is common belief that the flags of
Vasco da Gama's fleet, bound for the Orient, were blessed in the
first presbitery of the Cathedral, in 1497. In the transept are the
chapel-tomb of João Mendes de Vasconcelos, King D. Manuel's emissary,
as well as that of Embassador D. Álvaro da Costa, whose sarcophagus
is in the Museum, carved by the French sculptor Nicolau Chanterene.
Álvaro da Costa, who was a member of Charle's V's court, tried in
vain to promote the return to Portugal of Fernão de Magalhães, who
was in Seville preparing the first trip around the Globe. The
archway of the sanctuary is a rare example of hybrid Plateresque
architecture, dated back to 1529.
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5. LOIOS CONVENT |
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 Founded
in 1485 as a pantheon for D. Rodrigo de Melo, Lord High Steward of
King D. Afonso V, "the African", First Governor of Tangiers and
first Count of Olivença. Also buried in the church is his
brother-in-law, D. Rui de Sousa, head of the missionary expedition
to the Congo in 1490, and ambassador of King D. João II to the
Catholic Kings (Ferdinand and Isabel), in the capitulations of the
famous Treaty of Tordesillas, in 1494. In the chapel of the Holy
Sacrament there exists the tomb of D. Francisco de Melo, sculped by
Chanterene in the purest Renaissance style (1536). D. Francisco de
Melo was humanist and intellectual, companion of Master André de
Resende, Nicolau Clenardo, Jean Petit, Bishop of Cape Verde, and
Chanterene. The building maintains part of the primitive
architecture, of the hybrid Gothic-Manueline-Moorish style.
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6.
PALACE OF THE DUKES OF CADAVAL |
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 Here
the Duke of Bragança D. Fernando II was sentenced to death
in 1483. The palace was also the residence of some of the captains
who fought in Morocco, as well as of the illustrious humanist D. Francisco
de Melo. The palace, constituent part of the old castle, burnt in
the people's revolt of 1384 in favour of Master of Aviz, is dominated
by the architectural elements of the Manueline-Moorish period and
by the Tower of the Five Shield.
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7.PUBLIC LIBRARY |
 Founded
by the Archbishop D. Fr. Manuel do Cenáculo, in 1805, it serves as a
repository of an extremely valuable collection of manuscripts and
other documents relating to the history of the discoveries and the
maritime expansion of the Portuguese. Most notable are the Esmeraldo
de Situ Orbis, by Duarte Pacheco Pereira, Almanaque Perpetuum, by
Abraham Zacuto (1496), Tratado da Esphera, by Pedro Nunes (1537),
the Roteiros de D. João de Castro, Livro das plantas de todas as
fortalezas, cidades e povoações do Estado da Índia Oriental
(Itineraries of D. João de Castro, Book of the designs of all the
fortresses, cities and towns of the State of Eastern India),
dedicated to Philip III.
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8.PALACE
OF THE COUNTS OF BASTO |
 Primitive
Moorish castle and residence of the kings of the Alfonsine dynasty.
The wall of the palace displays features of the Gothic, Manueline,
Moorish (Mudejar) and Renaissance style of architecture. In addition,
mural paintings on the ground-floor salons include scenes of the capture
of Tunis in 1535 by the Emperor Charles V, an expedition to which
contributed the Portuguese squadron, commanded by Infante D.Luís,
Duke of Beja and brother of King John III. The mythological pictures
of the palace series are dated and signed by Francisco de Campos,
1578.
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