To the origins
The Alentejo has a rich and impressive megalithic heritage. With its 7 m height and 1.25 m diameter, the Menhir of Meada is the largest granite standing stone in the Iberian Peninsula. Its phallic shape suggests that it could be a monument associated with fertility cults. The region also has superb examples of cromlechs or stone circles. The Cromlech of Os Almendres is one of the most famous with its 93 megaliths forming an oval of 60 m on 30 m and whose arrangement was thought according to the position of the sun at the equinoxes. To these astonishing megalithic monuments, with ritual functions, are added imposing funerary structures called antas. They are funerary chambers accessible by a corridor and covered with a polygonal, rectangular or circular mound. The Anta Grande do Zambujeiro, 6 m high, is composed of several imposing slabs of granite that formed the original interior chamber. A few millennia later, it was the turn of the Romans to impose their mark. The peninsula of Troia is home to the ruins of Cetobriga, an important Roman port that still has the remains of salting tanks. The site of Microbriga testifies to an impressive mastery of water with its thermal baths of which we can still see the different spaces (baths, rest room), but especially the water pipes. The site is also famous for the foundations of a forum, a temple dedicated to Venus, and especially the remains of the only Roman racecourse in Portugal. The Romans also imagined a rural architecture of which the large villas are the proud representatives. Do not miss the ruins of the villa of Pisoes with its atrium and its swimming pool paved with mosaics, nor those of the villa of São Cucufate which impresses by the quality of its conveniences and the beauty of its frescos. Finally, a small tour in Evora is necessary to discover the remains of the ramparts, the thermal baths (found in the basement of the city hall) and especially to appreciate the beauty of the Temple of Diana (Templo romano) with elegant Corinthian columns. The temple owes its astonishing preservation to the fact that it was long integrated into the medieval fortifications!
Powerful Middle Ages
One of the great treasures of the Alentejo is the evidence of Muslim rule that it contains. While most of the mosques were destroyed during the Reconquest, the one in Mertola has survived the centuries almost unchanged. Its square plan, its rows of slender columns supporting beautiful pointed vaults, its arches where the horseshoe arch dominates, its keyhole doors, its mihrab (niche indicating Mecca), its crenellated roof with pinnacles and its chimney reminiscent of a minaret are all witnesses of the richness of this Islamic art. The city of Moura preserves the traces of a typically Arab urbanism with its Mouraria with lanes lined with low houses equipped with large openwork chimneys to allow ventilation and airing. Evora is home to the remains of fortifications - whose irregular stonework is a feature of Arab defensive architecture - and traces of the old kasbah. To confirm the Reconquest, the Christian kings reinforced the Arab fortresses and built new castles. The crenellated, square-plan keep of Beja was raised to an impressive height of 42 meters. In Marvão, you can walk along the walkway that follows the route of the old citadel and discover the impressive cistern of the castle, whose courtyards, curtains, flights of stairs and vaulted passages protected the keep. Estremoz, one of the most beautiful fortified towns in the region, is home to the superb Torre dos Tres Coronas, a white marble keep with crenellations and machicolations on the top. To this art of fortifications is added a new urbanism made of a labyrinth of paved lanes, vaulted passages and staircases serving the paved squares, central point of the city. Evora, with its houses arranged in irregular terraces and its multiple asymmetrical squares, is a beautiful example. Castelo de Vide, with its picturesque, tiered streets, has a real treasure: its Judiara or Jewish quarter, where you can still admire the beautiful houses with their typically gothic doors, vaulted and framed in granite. Look at the motifs on some of the stones, they often represent the owner's profession! The 14th century synagogue has kept all its medieval sobriety. Very religious, this Middle Ages saw the appearance of many monasteries, such as the fortified monastery of Flor da Rosa, and especially many churches and cathedrals. The one in Evora illustrates the transition from Romanesque to Gothic. Its massive towers, giving it the air of a fortress, remain deeply Romanesque, as does the simplicity and sobriety of the interior lines. But the sculptures, the rose window motifs and the cloister with its beautiful sculpted columns are resolutely Gothic. Later, some churches will bear the seal of the Mudejar style (that of the Moorish craftsmen working under the control of the Christian kings), like the beautiful church of Santa Maria de Beja, whose horseshoe arches and the 4 massive white columns framing the porch reminiscent of minarets translate this mixture of influences.
Amazing Renaissance
It all began with the abundant Manueline style, which made an astonishing transition from the Gothic to the Renaissance, inspired by the effervescence of this period of great discoveries. Ship's ropes, navigation instruments, vegetal decorations, exotic animals are thus mixed with Moorish and Spanish influences, of which the coffered ceilings and the azulejos are the first representatives. Portal work, spiral pillars, sculpted decorative elements often isolated in large, sober spaces to better enhance them, and royal emblems (armillary sphere, pelican and cross of the Order of Christ) are the main characteristics of this style. The church of São João Baptista de Moura, with its polychrome tiles, three-lobed arches and plant decorations, is a good example, as is the Manueline doorway in Viana do Alentejo, with its twisted columns and royal emblems. It is the work of Diogo de Arruda, who also designed the amazing new castle of Evora with square corner towers inspired by the codes of Renaissance military architecture, while carving stylized knots and cords on each facade, typical of the Manueline style. And let's not forget the São Francisco d'Evora church, with its porch of varied arcatures and its entrance portal framed by marble twisted columns with elaborate capitals. It is the work of the great architect of the time, Francisco de Arruda, creator of the famous Torre de Belém. Gradually its style evolved towards a more sober Renaissance, inspired by classical and humanist ideals, as shown by the transformation of the Evoramonte castle into an Italian-inspired palace or the impressive Agua de Prata aqueduct supplying Evora, whose powerful brick arches are reminiscent of the great Roman aqueducts. This Renaissance is also very urban with the appearance of superb patrician residences with whitewashed walls and facades decorated with elaborate wrought iron balconies. Evora bears the mark of this Renaissance harmony. Among the masterpieces of the city, do not miss: the University with its peaceful cloister serving the various classrooms filled with azulejos, the church of Graça whose facade carved with impressive atlantes is the work of the French sculptor Nicolas Chantereine, its marble fountains or the Casa Cordovil with its sumptuous arcaded loggia topped by a dome. The village of Monsaraz, with its perfectly whitewashed schist sidewalks and its stately homes often emblazoned with wrought iron balconies, is another fine example of this Renaissance urban harmony... as is the Paço Ducal of Vila Viçosa and its impressive 110-meter long façade housing behind its sparkling white marble nearly 78 rooms!
Baroque effervescence
Baroque is, par excellence, the art of decorative power and staging. The great square of Estremoz is a perfect example. Staircases, portals, window frames...: all are covered with local marble, as is the impressive façade of the Câmara Municipal, the town hall. The São Francisco church, also made of local marble, houses a magnificent Tree of Jesse (representation of the genealogy of Christ) carved in gilded wood. Gold that is found in the masterpiece of Portuguese Baroque: the talha dourada. This architectural sculpture of gilded wood surrounding the high altar takes the most exuberant forms: twisted columns, canopies, arches surrounded by cherubs ... Beautiful examples can be seen in the Santo Antão church in Evora or in the chapel of the Regional Museum in Beja. The pilgrimage churches, often isolated, are made to impress the faithful. The church of Nossa Senhora de Aires is the most striking example. See its powerful polychromy of white and yellow, its towers and domes topped by bulbous bell towers and the finesse of its ornamentation. Other great examples of this rich baroque are the chapels of the São Francisco church in Evora, the beautiful mansions and the Santa Maria church along Praça Dom Pedro V in Castelo de Vide, and the ceremonial rooms of the Paço Ducal in Vila Viçosa with their trompe-l'oeil ceilings. Far from this decorative splendor, the Baroque was also military, following the precepts of two different schools: the French school, as shown by the ramparts of Evora designed by the engineer Nicolas de Langres on the ideas of the famous Vauban, and the Dutch school. Elvas, a fortified garrison town, bears the mark of the latter. Considered as the biggest defensive system of dry moat walls of the world, the site is classified as world heritage of the Unesco. It is a Jesuit priest-architect-mathematician, Cosmander Cieremans, who is at the origin of this military masterpiece which manages to adapt purely geometrical theories to a rough topography. A total of 12 forts are inserted in an irregular polygon protecting the castle. The ramparts and embankments are surrounded by a dry ditch and a counterscarp (outer wall of the ditch) and protected by half-moons. This defensive system also included more distant forts adapted to the evolution of long-range artillery, such as the Forts of Santa Luzia and Graça; secondary forts; covered roads; and above all an impressive aqueduct whose 840 arches extended their power over nearly 8 km. Thus supplied, the city could hold a siege of several months!
