July 10, 2014 
EVORA to BORBA - 121 km
Hotel O Viajante €35, double including breakfast


 

One-Two-Six (Speedy) Sightseeing in Evora
 
The Best Western in Evora was a good choice for the price (booked on-line). We were able to leave our car on their spot along the main street while we went to see the main attractions in town. 
 
The temperature was well beyond my comfort zone so the plan was to do a one-two-six look-see. I wanted to see the Church of São Francisco and the Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones) and Dave, the "Aqueduto de Agua de Prata" (The Aqueduct of Silver Water).
 
Those good intentions got thrown to the wayside as we wandered the historic streets with stately homes and wrought iron balconies. Then we'd see a castle tower or unique church steeple protrude beyond the quaint streets and buildings, we just had to get a closer look. Four hours later, we had visited not only the eerie Chapel of Bones and the Aqueduct but Igreja de São João, the Roman Temple and Praça do Giraldo, the main square. The square used to be a place of executions and public burning of victims of the Inquisition. Today, the terraces on the square is a place to enjoy a drink or meal and makes a wonderful place to people watch. 


Capela dos Ossos (English: Chapel of Bones)
  
Dem Bones;
 
From James Weldon Johnson's Ezekiel inspired song;

Verse 2
   Head bone 
   (dis)connected from the neck bone
  Neck bone connected from the shoulder bone
   Shoulder bone connected from the back bone   
   Back bone connected from the hip bone
  Hip bone connected from the thigh bone
  Thigh bone connected from the knee bone
  Knee bone connected from the shin bone
  Shin bone connected from the ankle bone
  Ankle bone connected from the heel bone
  Foot bone connected from the toe bone
  Now hear the word of the Lord.
 
Church of São Francisco is a Manueline-Gothic church completed in 1510. It is currently under renovation and we had to cut through it to get to the 16th century Chapel of Bones which contains the bones of 5000 people.

The chapel is a large rectangular room with dim golden mood lighting. The surfaces of all walls are the knobby ends of patella and skulls. Pillars are adorned with laterally stacked thigh bones. Two skeletons suspended creepily. A Franciscan Monk supposedly built this as a meditation chamber and as a reminder of the human condition. The lintel above the entrance reads Nós ossos que aqui estamos pelos vossos esperamos Per the translation at its side, it says; “We bones that are here, we are waiting for your's"

Oddly though, we were not totally creeped out by the chapel. No one else seemed to be either. Perhaps because it seemed impersonal, in sharp contrast to the bones of the murder victims in the skull tower memorial at the Killing Fields in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which does trigger strong emotions.


Igreja de São João Did Not Disappoint!

We stopped at restaurant next to the Palais for a lunch buffet where the salad bar greens and beans pulled me in. 

We were intrigued by a sign in front of the adjacent church claiming to be the most beautiful in Portugal.

The only reason I was eager to see Igreja de São João was that it is lined floor to ceiling with azulejos, the hand painted blue and white tiles. It didn't disappoint! The collection azueljos are from 1711, by the great master Antonio de Oliveira, and depict scenes from the life of Sao Lourenco Justiniano.
 
The church also had a crypt with a stack of bones, a gilded alter and 18th century paintings. 

Aqueduto da Agua de Plata Disappointed

It was an unwelcome long hot walk to get to the end of the Aqueduct of Silver Water. The 8.5 kilometer long aqueduct was completed in the 1530's and it is Lonely Planet's "Top Choice" of Evora sights. Compared to all else we saw, it was just an ordinary aqueduct, notable merely for historical reasons. Top Choice really? And we could not even get access to the top for scenic walk.
 
It was 3:30 pm. And by this time I was a bit bitchy. I was hot and sticky and tired. But by the time we drove out of town towards the next sights on our agenda I largely got over it. 
 

Before Stonehenge, There was Cromeleque Dos Almendres

Evora is surrounded by Megalithic sites which date back to hunter gatherer communities, 2000 years before Stonehenge' prehistoric monuments were erected in Wiltshire, England. We decided on checking out a few 11 kilometers west of Evora. 
 
Our Lonely Planet is a bit sketchy on where exactly they are so we jogged over to the tourist information office again. "Oh, just follow the road signs for 'Lisbon' and you'll find more directions along the way", the woman there advised. The unsatisfied looks on our faces must have been noticed because she then reached under her counter and pulled out an information sheet describing the three main sites and handed it to us. Voila, we got something from them that was actually useful.

We set our smartphone navigation for 'Valverde' and found our way to site #3) the Megalithic Cathedral, Large Zambujeiro Dolmen. Dolmens are funeral monuments and this one is said to have one of the biggest stones. This reminded me of the megaliths called "Hunebedden" found in Drente, a province in Holland. 

Next, we visited site #2) a solitary stone, the Monte dos Almendres Menhir, about a 500 meter walk from the parking area.
 
  
Finally, after another short drive we got to site #1) the Almendres Megalithic site. For me, this was most impressive. It is a collection of large eastern facing stones which are estimated to be 7000 years old, one of humanities oldest monuments. They are perched on gently sloping hillside between cork trees. 

 
Arraiolos & Borba

By 5 pm, we set off for our final destination today, Borba, 68 kilometers down the road. But couldn't resist one more stop at the tapestry town of Arraiolos. Sadly, we were too late for more than a sweeping view from the citadel. 

We put $66 worth of gas in the tank and discovered we were getting just 33 mpg, the worst of the last three cars we've rented. Plus, the unleaded gas we needed ran $8.42 per gallon. OUCH!
 
We found a great highway side hotel just before the marble and winery town of Borba. It was the best value hotel for our whole trip in Portugal so far. And they served one of the best traditional meals we tasted too; fall-off-the-bone-tender pig cheek. It was the menu of the day and we were not expecting a lot for €7.50. But were pleasantly surprised when it included bread and appetizers, a jug of fresh local white wine, a hearty soup, a salad and the meaty left jaw of pig, and dessert and coffee. They eat a lot of meat in this part of Portugal, not something I crave when it is so hot out.