Iberian Adventure:
Enchanting Évora, Portugal's
Laid-Back Museum City
(Dispatch #9)
Story and photos by Tom Weber
![M`AR De AR Aqueduto hotel sign](http://www.travelingboy.com/tom/evora01.jpg)
y
head now beginning to clear following that mid-morning wine
tasting session, the intrepid "band of merry media"
and I 29 travel journalists and photographers invited by Insight
Vacations (Insight) to sample a portion of its premium-escorted Iberian
Adventure through Portugal and Spain - step down off the motor coach,
cross the cobble and check into the M`AR
De AR Aqueduto, our digs for the next two nights that's located
in the heart of the historic district of Évora, Portugal's Museum
City.
![the Aqueduto da Água de Prata (Aqueduct of Silver Water)](http://www.travelingboy.com/tom/evora02.jpg)
This five-star boutique hotel-spa, with
64 suite-rooms, occupies the old Sepulveda Palace, a magnificent structure
from the 16th century that's framed by the arches of the Aqueduto da
Água de Prata (Aqueduct of Silver Water).
![inside the writer's suite at the M`AR De AR Aqueduto](http://www.travelingboy.com/tom/evora03.jpg)
While I drop off my bags inside 223, splash
some water on my face and check my camera kit, feel free to have a quick
look around before we head straight out to soak up the history of this
capital city of the Alentejo and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Satisfied? VAMOS!
![Maria José, Insights' animated local art historian](http://www.travelingboy.com/tom/evora04.jpg)
Gathered around the Corinthian-columned
ruins of the Temple of Diana, a 2 AD Roman structure, we start jotting
down notes as Maria José, Insights' animated local art historian,
begins her narrative: "Évora's roots date back more than
2,000 years to the days of the Lusitanians, and during Portugal's Golden
Age, this museum-city became the residence of the country's royal family."
![ruins of the Temple of Diana in Évora](http://www.travelingboy.com/tom/evora05.jpg)
Maria José adds, "Its unique
quality stems from the whitewashed houses and their wrought-iron balconies
dating from the 16th to 18th centuries."
![scenes in Évora](http://www.travelingboy.com/tom/evora06.jpg)
An enchanting place to delve into the past,
Évora's 14th-century walls protect the labyrinth of narrow travessas
that lead to a striking variety of architectural works in Romanesque,
Gothic, Manueline, Renaissance and Baroque styles.
![architectural works of various medieval styles and a unique statue of a pregnant Madonna, Évora](http://www.travelingboy.com/tom/evora07.jpg)
Take Sé, the medieval, fortress-like,
Gothic cathedral of rose-colored granite, with its ornate main portal
of apostolic sculptures and a unique statue of a pregnant Madonna.
![skeletal remains at the Cappella dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones), St. Francis Church](http://www.travelingboy.com/tom/evora08.jpg)
There's the atmospheric (read, spooky)
Cappella dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones), a dimly lit ossuary inside St.
Francis Church where the walls are lined with the skeletal remains of
more than 5,000 lost souls.
![the Praça do Giraldo (Giraldo Square); pasteis de nata or egg tarts at the Café Arcada](http://www.travelingboy.com/tom/evora09.jpg)
Or, the town's focal point, Praça
do Giraldo (Giraldo Square), once the epicenter of countless bloody
and violent events of the Portuguese Inquisition, today it's a tranquil
spot lined with restaurants and open-air cafes, like Café Arcada,
an Évora institution, where I duck inside to enjoy a few more
of those delectable pasteis de nata (egg tarts).
![menu at the Maria Luisa restaurant](http://www.travelingboy.com/tom/evora10.jpg)
Spectacular architecture and rich history
aside, Évora a member of the Most Ancient European Towns
Network is also known for its superb food, like the mouth-watering
regional dishes of the Alentejo served up daily by Patricia and Joao
at Maria Luisa, a casual restaurant in the historic center's Praça
1º de Maio (First of May Square).
![wine and mouth-watering dishes at the Maria Luisa](http://www.travelingboy.com/tom/evora11.jpg)
Gathered around a mesa, the "band
of merry media," armed with 25 or so sets of cutlery, flies into
action on Insight's euro, savoring an array of mouth-watering dishes
and local wines, including my fave: lombo de porco preto (grilled
black Iberian pork tenderloin).
![lamp-lit cobble of Rua Cândido dos Reis](http://www.travelingboy.com/tom/evora12.jpg)
My belly now on the verge of exploding,
I forgo the courtesy ride on the motor coach and make my way back the
old fashioned way, on foot, along the lamp-lit cobble of Rua Cândido
dos Reis.
![](http://www.travelingboy.com/tom/evora13.jpg)
Meanwhile, back at the ranch (M`AR De AR
Aqueduto hotel-spa), I'm being turned down actually suite 223
is following my triumphant day in Évora, the Museum
City.
![Iberian Adventure brochures from Insight Vacations](http://www.travelingboy.com/tom/iberian_adventure01.jpg)
For complete information on Insight's 112
premium and luxury-escorted journeys around Europe, just click HERE,
or call toll free 1-888-680-1241, or contact your travel agent.
![the whitewashed medieval village of Monsaraz](http://www.travelingboy.com/tom/monsaraz03.jpg)
Get a good night's sleep, because tomorrow
we'll need to be firing on all cylinders when we climb a steep hill
to a whitewashed village, hop on board a sailing barge, and put the
feedbag back on for more of that to-die-for Alentejo regional cuisine.
Bons sonhos (Sweet dreams).
Related Articles:
Sampling
World-Class Wines at the Alentejo; Cascais
and Sintra: To the Edge of the Earth; Framing
Lisbon's Mosteiro dos Jerónimos; Pastéis
de Belém; The
Age of Discovery Began in Belém; Walking
the Decorative Cobble of Lisbon
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