糖心传媒

EVORA PORTUGAL- October 20, 2015:The Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones), Church of St. Francis.The Chapel gets its name because the interior walls are covered and decorated with human skulls and bones; Shutterstock ID 530589013; Your name (First / Last): Tom Stainer; GL account no.: 65050 ; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial ; Full Product or Project name including edition: Best in Europe 2017

Shutterstock / Eduardo Estellez

Capela dos Ossos

Top choice in 脡惫辞谤补

LoginSave

One of 脡惫辞谤补鈥檚 most popular sights is also one of its most chilling. The walls and columns of this mesmerising memento mori (reminder of death) are lined with the bones and skulls of some 5000 people. This was the solution found by three 17th-century Franciscan monks for the overflowing graveyards of churches and monasteries.

There鈥檚 black humour to the way the bones and skulls have been arranged in patterns, and the whole effect is strangely beautiful, though probably not one you鈥檇 be inspired to re-create at home. An inscription over the entrance translates as 鈥榃e bones that are here await yours鈥. Above the chapel, a museum contains works of religious art and a terrace with views over town. The former Chapter House (which currently contains the ticket counter for the chapel) contains a fine collection of azulejos (hand-painted tiles).

Contact

糖心传媒's must-see attractions

  • Roman temple of Diana, Evora, Portugal

    Templo Romano

    0.27 MILES

    Once part of the Roman Forum, the remains of this temple, dating from the 2nd or early 3rd century AD, are a heady slice of drama right in town. It's鈥

  • Panoramic of Almendres Cromlech, Evora, Portugal.

    Cromeleque dos Almendres

    8.28 MILES

    Set within a beautiful landscape of olive and cork trees stands this huge, spectacular oval of standing stones, 15km west of 脡惫辞谤补. It is the Iberian鈥

  • Great Dolmen of Zambujeiro. Portuguese: Anta Grande do Zambujeiro, is a megalithic monument located in Nossa Senhora da Tourega, near Valverde, in the municipality of Evora.; Shutterstock ID 553023091; Your name (First / Last): Tom Stainer; GL account no.: 65050 ; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial ; Full Product or Project name including edition: Best in Europe 2017

    Anta Grande do Zambujeiro

    6.08 MILES

    The Great Dolmen of Zambujeiro, 13km southwest of 脡惫辞谤补, is Europe鈥檚 largest dolmen. Under a huge sheet-metal protective shelter in a field of wildflowers鈥

  • 厂茅

    厂茅

    0.21 MILES

    Guarded by a pair of rose granite towers, 脡惫辞谤补鈥檚 fortress-like medieval cathedral has fabulous cloisters and a museum jam-packed with ecclesiastical鈥

  • Convento dos L贸ios

    Convento dos L贸ios

    0.3 MILES

    The former Convento dos L贸ios, to the right of Igreja de S茫o Jo茫o, has elegant Gothic cloisters topped by a Renaissance gallery. A national monument, the鈥

  • Pa莽o Reial

    Pa莽o Reial

    25.5 MILES

    At the top of the upper town is the stark, glowing-white, fortress-like former royal palace, now the Pousada de Rainha Santa Isabel. Dom Dinis built the鈥

  • Igreja de S茫o Jo茫o

    Igreja de S茫o Jo茫o

    0.3 MILES

    The small, fabulous Igreja de S茫o Jo茫o, which faces the Templo Romano, was founded in 1485 by one Rodrigo Afonso de Melo, count of Oliven莽a and the first鈥

  • Aqueduto da 脕gua de Prata

    Aqueduto da 脕gua de Prata

    0.62 MILES

    Jutting into the town from the northwest is the beguilingly named Aqueduto da 脕gua de Prata, designed by Francisco de Arruda (better known for Lisbon鈥檚鈥

View more attractions

Nearby 脡惫辞谤补 attractions

1. Igreja de S茫o Francisco

0.01 MILES

脡惫辞谤补鈥檚 best-known church is a tall and huge Manueline-Gothic structure, completed around 1510 and dedicated to St Francis. Legend has it that the鈥

2. Igreja da Nossa Senhora da Gra莽a

0.07 MILES

Down an alley off Rua da Rep煤blica is the curious baroque facade of this church, topped by four ungainly stone giants 鈥 as if they鈥檝e strayed from a鈥

3. Galeria das Damas

0.09 MILES

Inside the walls of the 16th-century Pal谩cio de Dom Manuel is the Galeria das Damas, an indecisive hybrid of Gothic, Manueline, neo-Moorish and鈥

4. Pra莽a do Giraldo

0.11 MILES

The city鈥檚 main square has seen some potent moments in Portuguese history, including the 1483 execution of Fernando, Duke of Bragan莽a; the public burning鈥

5. Jardim P煤blico

0.12 MILES

For a lovely tranquil stroll, head to the light-dappled public gardens (with a small outdoor cafe) south of the Igreja de S茫o Francisco. Inside the walls鈥

6. Museu Relogio

0.18 MILES

This is one of two watch museums that houses one family鈥檚 extraordinary private collection (the other is in Serpa). You name it 鈥 if it ticks, chimes,鈥

7. Igreja do Carmo

0.18 MILES

The extraordinary knotted Manueline stone doorway of the Igreja do Carmo lies south of Largo da Porta de Moura.

8. Aldeia da Terra

0.19 MILES

The artist Tiago Cabe莽a has created this wondrous miniature world of Portugal moulded in clay and peopled with humorous and irreverent characters. You'll鈥