Évora

One of the main attractions of Alentejo is that, while you can enjoy vast open spaces still unspoilt by tourism, the towns and villages offer a wide variety of architectural styles, monuments and historical sites, often inserted in landscapes of great beauty.
Such is the case of this district.

Évora, the capital, declared in 1986 by the UNESCO a World Heritage Site, more than justifies this choice. An enchanting walled city, with an unique atmosphere in the streets of the old town, filled with restaurants and handicraft shops, and historical monuments like the ruins of the roman temple, the 15th-century Convent of Lóios (now a luxurious pousada-state inn-, a state inn) and the cathedral begun in 1186, together with houses exhibiting bright white arcades and balconies of wrought iron. In spite of its historical interest, the fact of being an university town brings it new life.

A royal atmosphere can be felt in Vila Viçosa, where an elaborate palace was begun in 1501 and you can visit its rooms with rich furniture, armouries and treasury, along with a coach museum.
At Redondo, also known for its wine, the ruins of the castle enhance its medieval atmosphere, and its famous pottery still depicts roman-style jugs and casseroles.

Arraiolos, with its 14th-century castle, is especially known for its rare handmade carpets and tapestries, while in Estremoz you can enjoy a lively weekly market, in this medieval city dominated by the Tower of the Three Castles (13th century) and the adjoining castle and palace.

Escoural Cave (Montemor-o-Novo)
The Escoural Cave, located out of town, it’s an important reference point. It was classified national monument and it’s famous for its paintings and numerous rupestral engravings. The Escoural Cave it’s the most western place in Europe with phaleolitical art and it was discovered in 1963, when some men were working in a stone-pit.

S. Domingos Convent Museological Nucleus (Montemor-o-Novo)
This nucleus is located, as the name says, at the S. Domingos Convent, a Dominican Convent, founded on the transition to the 17th century. The nucleus involves archaeology, pottery, religious art, ethnography and tauromachy rooms.

Courela da Casa Nova Menhir/ Courela do Guita Menhir (Montemor-o-Novo)
This menhir is located on the road between Montemor-o-Novo and Vendas-Novas. Behind the ancient hill, the 2,70 m high menhir, actually showing the granite, was until the 70’s whitewashed and located in the middle of a hencoop.

Village Door (Reguengos de Monsaraz)
This door is the main access to the village. Two semicylindrical cubic turrets protect its defensive structure. Over the ogival arch of the door there’s a marble tablet that celebrates the consecration of the Kingdom to the Immaculate Conception by D. João V (1616).

Olival da Pega Cromlechs (Reguengos de Monsaraz)
These megalithic monuments are about 14 km from Reguengos de Monsaraz, near Telheiro.
Recent archaeological works have revealed that the number 2 cromlech is more than that. It’s a real funerary complex that includes, besides the dolmen four funerary joined areas. The number 1 cromlech is easily located because of the chamber support and a big mass of tumbled stones. The remains found (134 schist plaques and 200 ceramic vessels) show that this dolmen was a wide collective necropolis.

Lover’s Rock Menhir (Reguengos de Monsaraz)
This granitic natural monument looks like a mushroom. It’s more than 2 m high and its top is always covered with small loose stones. This menhir is also known as the fertility stone.
According to tradition, still followed today, single girls, performing an old pagan fertility rite, go there on the first Monday after Easter to throw a stone to the top of the menhir and consult it about marriage. Each failed launching represents a year waiting.