Evora
UNESCO World Heritage Site: Historic Centre Of Evora (1986); European Capital Of Culture 2027 · Evora, Evora
Evora is the capital of the Alentejo, a whitewashed walled city on a low rise in the wheat plains and cork-oak country about 130 km east of Lisbon. Romans, Visigoths, Moors and Portuguese kings all left layers here, and the Historic Centre became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. People come for the granite columns of the Roman Temple, often called the Temple of Diana though that attribution is doubted, for the fortress-like Se and its roof walk, and for the Chapel of Bones, lined with the skulls and bones of thousands of people. Around them are the Praca do Giraldo, a sixteenth-century Jesuit university with tiled classrooms, an aqueduct with houses built into its arches, and some of the best food and wine in Portugal. Evora is European Capital of Culture for 2027, so expect more events and busier, pricier rooms through that year. The honest caveat: it is a compact, quiet city rather than a big sight, the Chapel of Bones queues at midday, and in July and August the heat regularly reaches 40 degrees C, so the afternoons are for shade.
Evora historic centre inside the walls, from the Roman Temple and the Se up to the Praca do Giraldo and the Chapel of Bones, Evora, Evora, Portugal
The walled centre is open all year. The Se and the Chapel of Bones open daily, roughly from morning to late afternoon, later in summer; the Evora Museum and some others close on Mondays - confirm each. Intercidades trains from Lisbon (Oriente or Entrecampos) take about 1.5 hours to a station about 1 km south of the walls; Rede Expressos coaches from Sete Rios take roughly 1.5-2 hours - confirm times. Book rooms well ahead for 2027 and for the late-June fair.