The Alto Alentejo 6

From the university, walk back towards the centre of town along Rua Conde Serra da Tourela until, on your left, you come to the square known as Largo da Porta de Moura. Look across to your right (the other side of the road) and you’ll see two towers that mark the position of a former Moorish gate in the original town walls. Walk between these into Rua de São Manços and, in the house of the Renaissance poet Garcia de Resonde, there’s an outstanding example of a Manueline window.

Once you’ve viewed the square itself, leave the Porta da Moura area along Rua da Misericórdia - a left turn at the top end of the square - and visit the Igreja da Misericórdia on your right, which is noted for its 18th century azulejos (tiles).

Continue on along the same road, through Largo de Alvaro Velho, then a right turn through Largo de Vincente and a left turn onto Rua da República which takes you back to the car parks.

OUTSIDE OF ÉVORA

To Évora’s east, fortified towns and villages bear testimony to the close proximity of the Spanish border. A few miles to the town’s north-east is an area so rich in marble that even roadside kerbstones are made of the material. There are vineyards, cork oak plantations, megaliths and more.

The Megaliths

The area around Évora is particularly rich in megaliths and also boasts caves with paintings believed to be 15,000 to 30,000 years old.

Many of the megaliths are dolmens, which are chambered tombs with a large horizontal stone supported by upright stones. They are believed to be where neolithic communities buried their dead together with their belongings. There are also menhirs - individual standing stones probably connected to fertility rights - and cromlechs (also called henges) which are carved stones standing in regular circles or ovals and probably having a religious significance now lost in the mist of time.

In total there are literally hundreds of megaliths to be found around Évora (see suggested ‘Taster Tour’ to the far right) and more can be found a little further afield to the north of Portalegre and also around Montemor-o-Novo (where there’s a museum with finds from the area) and Reguengos de Monsaraz.

Minibus tours of some of the megalithic sites are available starting from Évora’s Tourist Office in the Praça do Giraldo.

The Cromeleque do Almendres (Cromlech of Almendres). Dating from 5,000BC to 4,000BC, it is the most important megalithic site in Portugal.


	LARGO DA PORTA DE MOURA



	The square gets its name from its close proximity to the Moorish gate that was in the original town walls. The futuristic-looking fountain in the middle is, in fact, Renaissance, dating from 1556. Looking down to the far end of the square, the Moorish influence on Évora’s architecture is exemplified by the double-arched belvedere surmounting Casa Cordovil.



	Just south-east of the square, down Rua de Dr Augusto Eduardo Nunes, the Convento do Carno features a knot symbol, indicating that it once belonged to the Royal House of Bragança.

Megaliths Taster Circuit. Leave Évora along the N114 towards Montemor and turn left towards Guadalupe, following signs to the Cromeleque do Almendres. Expect a stiff walk for the last stretch. The cromlech comprises 95 stones in an oval and is believed to be a temple dedicated to a solar cult.

As well as the cromlech, which is on a cork plantation, there’s the Menhir do Almendres, a 3 metre high standing stone. Legend has it this marks the tomb of an enchanted Moorish princess who appears once a year and can be seen combing her hair.

Return to the Guadalupe road. Travel further along it to Valverde and ask for directions to the Anta (Dolmen) do Zambujeiro, being mindful that the route leads across farmland. This is Portugal’s largest dolmen, with an entrance chamber 14m long leading to a chamber formed with huge stones.

Then it’s back to Valverde and on the minor road towards Santiago do Escoural. Just beyond the hamlet of São Brissos is the Anta Capela do São Brissos (São Brissos Dolmen Chapel). This is a small chapel that has been created out of a dolmen.

Continue along the same road and then turn right onto the N370. A short way along on the right are the Grutas (Caves) do Escoural with their Upper Palaeolithic Period paintings.

Travel onwards along the N370 road and then right onto the N114 back to Évora.