Évora, worth knowing.

Fun facts about Évora

1. 1Évora's famous Roman 'Temple of Diana' probably never belonged to Diana. The name comes from a 17th-century story; historians now think it was built to honour the Roman emperor.Source: Cultura Portugal - Direção Regional de Cultura do Alentejo; Wikipedia
2. 2Évora is a European Capital of Culture in 2027, and its theme is 'vagar': the unhurried Alentejo way of living, taking time to notice everything around you.Source: European Commission - Culture and Creativity; Évora 2027
3. 3In the cork oak forests around Évora, look for numbers painted on the trunks. Each digit marks the year that tree's bark was harvested, and the bark then gets nine years to grow back.Source: Amorim Cork; Wine Anorak
4. 4The Alentejo has its own way of singing: cante alentejano, choirs of up to thirty voices with no instruments at all. UNESCO listed it as intangible heritage of humanity in 2014.Source: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage; Wikipedia
5. 5Évora's university was founded in 1559, closed in 1759, and then stayed shut for over two centuries. It only reopened in 1973, and students are back in the old halls today.Source: Visit Évora; Wikipedia

Things to do in Évora

• ◦Just outside Évora, the Almendres Cromlech gathers nearly 100 standing stones on a hillside: the largest megalithic enclosure in the Iberian Peninsula, first raised more than 7,000 years ago.Source: Câmara Municipal de Évora - Évora Megalítica; Wikipedia
• ◦Wander into the University of Évora's old college: each classroom around the cloister is lined with 18th-century tile panels showing the subject once taught inside, from maths to astronomy. Visitors can walk through during term.Source: Visit Évora; SAPO Viagens
• ◦Évora's Public Garden has 'fake ruins': a 19th-century romantic folly built from old Manueline windows salvaged around town. Look up, and there are often peacocks strolling on top.Source: Visit Évora; Portugal Visitor Guide
• ◦Climb up to the terrace of Évora Cathedral, Portugal's largest medieval cathedral. It's the highest point in town, with the whole walled city and the Alentejo plains spread out below.Source: Cabido da Sé de Évora; Visit Évora
• ◦Follow the 16th-century Água de Prata aqueduct on foot or by bike: a signposted trail runs beside it through the Alentejo countryside and into Évora's old town.Source: Visit Évora; Guia da Cidade
• ◦Float over Évora in a hot air balloon at sunrise and spot the medieval walls, the cathedral and the Roman temple from the basket as the city wakes up.Source: Visit Évora; Baloníssimo

Questions to bring to Évora

From Sojourn's journeys. Ask one over a long dinner or on a slow walk, and let the place do some of the work.

Going together

• When do you feel most like yourself?
• What does rest actually look like for you?
• What is one thing you wish we did more of?

Going solo

• What is the first thing this place is showing you that you didn't expect?
• What does this version of you know that the home version tends to forget?

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