Évora

Évora
Municipality

From top to right: Igreja da Graça, Cathedral of Évora, Roman Temple of Évora, University of Évora

Flag
Coat of arms
Coordinates: 38°34′N 07°54′W / 38.567°N 7.900°WCoordinates: 38°34′N 07°54′W / 38.567°N 7.900°W
Country  Portugal
Region Alentejo
Subregion Alentejo Central
Intermunic. comm. Alentejo Central
District Évora
Parishes 12
Government
 • President Carlos Pinto de Sá (CDU)
Area
 • Total 1,307.08 km2 (504.67 sq mi)
Population (2011)
 • Total 56,596
 • Density 43/km2 (110/sq mi)
Time zone WET/WEST (UTC+0/+1)
Website www.cm-evora.pt

Évora (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɛvuɾɐ]) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 56,596,[1] in an area of 1307.08 km².[2] It is the seat of the Évora District and capital of the Alentejo region. The present Mayor is Carlos Pinto de Sá of the CDU coalition. The municipal holiday is 29 June.

Due to its well-preserved old town centre, still partially enclosed by medieval walls, and a large number of monuments dating from various historical periods, including a Roman Temple, Évora is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network.[3]

Évora is ranked number two in the Portuguese most livable cities survey of living conditions published yearly by Expresso.[4] It was ranked first in a study concerning competitiveness of the 18 Portuguese district capitals, according to a 2006 study made by Minho University economic researchers.[5]

History

The Foral of Évora of 1501, when the city was favoured by Manuel I of Portugal.
A depiction of Évora in 1503, when the city was blooming with Manueline riches.

Early History

Évora has a history dating back more than two millennia.

It was known as Ebora by the Celts, a tribal confederacy, south of the Lusitanians (and of Tagus river), who made the town their regional capital.

The etymological origin of the name Ebora is from the ancient Celtic word ebora/ebura, plural genitive of the word eburos (yew), name of a species of tree, so its name means "of yew tree." The city of York, in northern England, at the time of the Roman Empire, was called Eboracum/Eburacum, named after the ancient Celtic place name Ebora Kon (Place of Yew Trees), so the old name of York is etymologically related to the city of Évora.[6] Other two hypothesis of the origin of the name Évora is that the Romans had extensive gold mining in Portugal, and the name may be derived from that oro, aurum, (gold) [7] and also may be named after ivory workers, but these two hypothesis are much less likely than the first one, because the name Évora has no relation with gold or with ivory in ancient Celtic, latin or Portuguese languages or other languages, there is no etymological ground for these two hypotheses. It may have been capital of the kingdom of Astolpas.[8]

Roman Rule

The Romans conquered the town in 57 BC and expanded it into a walled town. Vestiges from this period (city walls and ruins of Roman baths) still remain. Julius Caesar called it Liberalitas Julia (Julian generosity). The city grew in importance because it lay at the junction of several important routes. During his travels through Gaul and Lusitania, Pliny the Elder also visited this town and mentioned it in his book Naturalis Historia as Ebora Cerealis, because of its many surrounding wheat fields. In those days, Évora became a flourishing city. Its high rank among municipalities in Roman Hispania is clearly shown by many inscriptions and coins. The monumental Corinthian temple in the centre of the town dates from the first century and was probably erected in honour of emperor Augustus. In the fourth century, the town had already a bishop, named Quintianus.

During the barbarian invasions, Évora came under the rule of the Visigothic king Leovirgild in 584. The town was later raised to the status of a cathedral city. Nevertheless, this was a time of decline and very few artifacts from this period remain.

Moorish Rule

In 715, the city was conquered by the Moors under Tariq ibn-Ziyad who called it Yaburah يابرة. During the Moorish rule (715–1165), the town, part of the Taifa of Badajoz, slowly began to prosper again and developed into an agricultural center with a fortress and a mosque. The present character of the city is evidence of the Moorish influence. During that time, several notables hailed from Evora, including Abd al-Majid ibn Abdun Al-Yaburi عبد المجيد بن عبدون اليابري, a poet whose diwan still survives to this day.[9]

Reconquest

Évora was wrested from the Moors through a surprise attack by Gerald the Fearless (Geraldo Sem Pavor) in September 1165. The town came under the rule of the Portuguese king Afonso I in 1166. It then flourished as one of the most dynamic cities in the Kingdom of Portugal during the Middle Ages, especially in the 15th century. The court of the first and second dynasties resided here for long periods, constructing palaces, monuments and religious buildings. Évora became the scene for many royal weddings and a site where many important decisions were made.

Manueline Favour

In the 19th-century, Évora declined in national power, as a result of the War of Two Brothers.

Particularly thriving during the Avis Dynasty (1385–1580), especially under the reign of Manuel I and John III, Évora became a major centre for the humanities (André de Resende - buried in the cathedral) and artists, such as the sculptor Nicolau Chanterene; the painters Cristóvão de Figueiredo and Gregório Lopes; the composers Manuel Cardoso and Duarte Lobo; the chronicler Duarte Galvão; and the father of Portuguese drama, Gil Vicente.

Évora also held a large part of the slave population of Portugal. Nicolas Clenard, a Flemish tutor at the Portuguese court, exclaimed in 1535 that "In Evora, it was as if i had been carried off to a city in hell:everywhere I only meet blacks." A testament from 23 October 1562 shows that D. Maria de Vilhena, a Portuguese noblewoman, was a major slave owner, possessing the most slaves in Évora, with her testament recording fifteen slaves.[10] D. Maria's owning a Chinese, 3 Indians, and 3 Mouriscos among her fifteen slaves reflected on her high social status, since Chinese, Mouriscos, and Indians were among the ethnicities of prized slaves and were very expensive compared to blacks, and it was because her husband Simão was involved in the slave trade in the east that she owned slaves of many different ethnicities.[11] She freed twelve of her slaves in her 23 October 1562 testament who were recorded as: a Chinese man named António, three Indian women named Maria Fialha, Genebra, and Catarina, a white woman named Mécia de Abreu, a mulato man named Miguel, a parda woman named Guiomar, a black woman named Margarida, a mourisco woman named Isabel, a mourisco man named Salvador, and the testament does not mention the ethnicities of the men Diogo and Heitor. Her sister D. Leonor was given two of the remaining slaves, Maria and Luís, while the Priests of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Nossa Senhora do Carmo) were given the slave André.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] She left the freed slaves sums from 20,000 to 10,000 réis in money.[25] D. Maria owned one of the only two Chinese slaves in Evora, and specifically selected and used him from among the slaves she owned to perform demanding tasks for her because he was Chinese.[26] D. Maria de Vilhena was the daughter of the nobleman and explorer Sancho de Tovar, the capitão of Sofala, and she was married twice, the first marriage to the explorer Cristóvão de Mendonça, and her second marriage was to Simão da Silveira, capitão of Diu.[27][28][29]

The city became the seat of an archbishopric in 1540. The university was founded by the Jesuits in 1559, and it was here that great European Masters such as the Flemish humanists Nicolaus Clenardus (Nicolaas Cleynaerts) (1493–1542), Johannes Vasaeus (Jan Was) (1511–1561) and the theologian Luis de Molina passed on their knowledge. In the 18th century, the Jesuits, who had spread intellectual and religious enlightenment since the 16th century, were expelled from Portugal, the university was closed in 1759 by the Marquis of Pombal, and Évora went into decline. The university was only reopened in 1973.

Recent History

View of a street in Évora.

The Battle of Évora was fought on 29 July 1808 during the Peninsular War. An outnumbered Portuguese force tried to stop a French-Spanish division commanded by Louis Henri Loison but it was routed. Led by the hated Loison, known as Maneta or One-Hand, the French went on to storm the town which was defended by soldiers, militiamen and armed townsmen. Breaking into the town, the attackers slaughtered combatants and non-combatants alike before thoroughly pillaging the place.


In 1834, Évora was the site of the surrender of the forces of King Miguel I, which marked the end of the Liberal Wars. The many monuments erected by major artists of each period now testify to Évora's lively cultural and rich artistic and historical heritage. The variety of architectural styles (Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline, Renaissance, Baroque), the palaces and the picturesque labyrinth of squares and narrow streets of the city centre are all part of the rich heritage of this museum-city.

Geography

Physical geography

Évora (altitude 300 m) is situated in Alentejo, a large region of wide plains on the south of Portugal, borderd on the North by the Tagus River and on the South by the region of Algarve. The city is 140 km (87 mi) from the capital city Lisbon, and 80 km (50 mi) from Badajoz at the Spanish border. It is the chief city of the region. The seat of the municipality is the city of Évora, composed by the civil parishes of Évora (São Mamede, Sé, São Pedro e Santo Antão) in the historical centre and the urban parishes of Bacelo e Senhora da Saúde and Malagueira e Horta das Figueiras outside the ancient city walls where most of the population in fact reside. The remaining civil parishes in the municipality are rural or suburban and do not form part of the city for statistic purposes. The city's historical centre has about 4,000 buildings and an area of 1.05 km2 (0.41 sq mi).

Climate

Évora has a hot-summer mediterranean climate.[30] As typical of the interior Alentejo, Évora is prone to severe heat extremes with an all-time record of 46 °C (115 °F).[31] However, the average summer high usually is around 31 °C (88 °F), which is significantly less severe heat than being found in nearby Andalusia, Spain. This is due to low-scale maritime effects due to the relative proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, which also causes seasonal lag predominantly during the warmer period, with night-time temperatures being milder in September than June as well as in October compared with May. Frosts in winter are extremely rare and never severe, with day-time temperatures most often staying below 15 °C (59 °F).

Climate data for Évora
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 24.7
(76.5)		 24.3
(75.7)		 31.3
(88.3)		 32.3
(90.1)		 37.8
(100)		 41.8
(107.2)		 45.3
(113.5)		 46.0
(114.8)		 44.2
(111.6)		 36.7
(98.1)		 27.6
(81.7)		 24.4
(75.9)		 46.0
(114.8)
Average high °C (°F) 13.4
(56.1)		 14.7
(58.5)		 18.0
(64.4)		 19.1
(66.4)		 22.6
(72.7)		 27.9
(82.2)		 31.1
(88)		 31.1
(88)		 27.8
(82)		 22.2
(72)		 17.1
(62.8)		 13.8
(56.8)		 21.57
(70.82)
Daily mean °C (°F) 9.6
(49.3)		 10.7
(51.3)		 13.3
(55.9)		 14.3
(57.7)		 17.1
(62.8)		 21.4
(70.5)		 23.9
(75)		 24.1
(75.4)		 21.9
(71.4)		 17.7
(63.9)		 13.4
(56.1)		 10.5
(50.9)		 16.49
(61.68)
Average low °C (°F) 5.8
(42.4)		 6.7
(44.1)		 8.6
(47.5)		 9.5
(49.1)		 11.7
(53.1)		 14.8
(58.6)		 16.6
(61.9)		 17.0
(62.6)		 16.0
(60.8)		 13.2
(55.8)		 9.7
(49.5)		 7.1
(44.8)		 11.39
(52.52)
Record low °C (°F) −2.9
(26.8)		 −1.4
(29.5)		 −2.3
(27.9)		 2.9
(37.2)		 4.9
(40.8)		 6.7
(44.1)		 10.9
(51.6)		 11.4
(52.5)		 9.1
(48.4)		 5.5
(41.9)		 0.0
(32)		 −0.5
(31.1)		 −2.9
(26.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 60.7
(2.39)		 51.9
(2.043)		 43.9
(1.728)		 55.0
(2.165)		 46.5
(1.831)		 16.5
(0.65)		 4.1
(0.161)		 8.2
(0.323)		 32.2
(1.268)		 83.6
(3.291)		 87.6
(3.449)		 95.1
(3.744)		 585.3
(23.043)
Source: [32]

Human geography

Évora is a pleasant medium-sized city and has numerous monuments. Due to its long history, monuments and buildings are its main attraction to outsiders. However there are numerous "Festas Populares" celebrating saints, holidays, "Feiras" (fairs) and cultural events (such as televised musical presentations) sponsored by the municipality and other organizations[33]

The municipality consists of the following 12 civil parishes:[34]

International relations

Évora is twinned with:

Évora is also part of the Most Ancient European Towns Network.

Economy

Évora is the chief city of the Alentejo region, and plays a role as an important agricultural and services center. It is home to several institutions with great importance for the region, like the state-run University of Évora and district hospital. Évora has tried to develop the aerospace sector, and expects soon Embraer industrial facilities.[35]

Évora, as well as the surrounding area, has many hotels, bed-and-breakfasts and various styles of accommodation.

Transport

Évora can be reached by bus or train, with the construction of a high speed train link to Lisbon and Madrid is planned.

There is a small airfield, the Évora Municipal Airport, currently without commercial airline service. The closest major airports are: Beja, Lisbon, Faro and Badajoz.

Architecture

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Historic Centre of Évora
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
Type Cultural
Criteria ii, iv
Reference 361
UNESCO region Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription 1986 (10th Session)
Giraldo Square in Évora.

Prehistoric

Civic

Graça Church.

The city of Évora is marked by the historic square in the Praça do Geraldo, where King Duarte constructed the Estaus Palace. The square is marked by the Henriquina fountain, dating to 1570, that includes eight jets symbolizing the eight streets that lead to the square. At the northern end of the square is the Church of Saint Andrew (Portuguese: Igreja de Santo Antão) built by Manuel Pires, in the 16th century. A rather large church three-nave church, includes a valuable altar antependium from the 13th century in bas relief. In 1483, Fernando II, the Duke of Braganza was executed in the square, in the presence of his brother-in-law king John II. This square also witnessed thousands of autos-da-fé during the Inquisition; there were 22000 condemnations, during the course of 200 years.[36]

Religious

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Instituto Nacional de Estatística
  2. ↑ Direção-Geral do Território
  3. ↑ MAETN (1999). "diktyo". classic-web.archive.org. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  4. ↑ Classificação Expresso das melhores cidades portuguesas para viver em 2007, Expresso
  5. ↑ "Edição Impressa". Jornal.publico.clix.pt. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
  6. ↑ "York's ancient origins". Yorkshire-england.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  7. ↑ "The Mineral Industry of Portugal in 2002" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  8. ↑ "Évora". Fikeonline.net. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ Jorge Fonseca (1997). Os escravos em Évora no século XVI (in Portuguese). Volume 2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses. Câmara Municipal de Évora. p. 18. ISBN 9729696535. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  11. ↑ Jorge Fonseca (1997). Os escravos em Évora no século XVI (in Portuguese). Volume 2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses. Câmara Municipal de Évora. p. 21. ISBN 9729696535. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  12. ↑ Jorge Fonseca (1997). Os escravos em Évora no século XVI (in Portuguese). Volume 2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses. Câmara Municipal de Évora. p. 21. ISBN 9729696535. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  13. ↑ Alberto Da Costa E Silva (2002). A Manilha e o Libambo (in Portuguese). Editora Nova Fronteira. p. 849. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  14. ↑ Hugh Thomas (2013). The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade: 1440-1870 (illustrated ed.). Simon and Schuster. p. 119. ISBN 1476737452. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  15. ↑ Maria do Rosário Pimentel (1995). Viagem ao fundo das consciências: a escravatura na época moderna (in Portuguese). Volume 3 of Colibri história. Edições Colibri. p. 49. ISBN 9728047754. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  16. ↑ Viagem ao fundo das consciências: a escravatura na época moderna (in Portuguese). Sociedade Histórica da Independência de Portugal (Lisbon, Portugal). Palácio da Independencia. 1966. p. 19. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  17. ↑ Fortunato de Almeida (1925). História de Portugal, Volume 3 (in Portuguese). F. de Almeida. p. 222. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  18. ↑ Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses, Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Lisbon, Portugal) (1999). Ana Maria Rodrigues, ed. Os Negros em Portugal: sécs. XV a XIX : Mosteiro dos Jerónimos 23 de Setembro de 1999 a 24 de Janeiro de 2000 (in Portuguese) (illustrated ed.). Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses. p. 77. ISBN 9728325991. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  19. ↑ Jorge Fonseca (1997). Os escravos em Évora no século XVI (in Portuguese). Volume 2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses. Câmara Municipal de Évora. p. 30. ISBN 9729696535. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  20. ↑ Jorge Fonseca (1997). Os escravos em Évora no século XVI (in Portuguese). Volume 2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses. Câmara Municipal de Évora. p. 31. ISBN 9729696535. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  21. ↑ Gabriel Pereira (1886). Estudos eborenses : historia, arte, archeologia (O Archivo Da Santa Casa de Misericordia d'Evora 2.a Parte)(O testamento de uma grande dama do seculo 16) (in Portuguese). Evora : Minerva Eborense. p. 5 (575). Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  22. ↑ O Testamento de uma Grande Dama do Século XVI (in Portuguese). p. 27. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  23. ↑ Jack D. Forbes (1993). Title Africans and Native Americans: The Language of Race and the Evolution of Red-Black Peoples (reprint ed.). University of Illinois Press. p. 40. ISBN 025206321X. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  24. ↑ A. C. de C. M. Saunders (1982). A Social History of Black Slaves and Freedmen in Portugal, 1441-1555 (illustrated ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 214. ISBN 0521231507. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  25. ↑ Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses, Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Lisbon, Portugal) (1999). Ana Maria Rodrigues, ed. Os Negros em Portugal: sécs. XV a XIX : Mosteiro dos Jerónimos 23 de Setembro de 1999 a 24 de Janeiro de 2000 (in Portuguese) (illustrated ed.). Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses. p. 77. ISBN 9728325991. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  26. ↑ Jorge Fonseca (1997). Os escravos em Évora no século XVI (in Portuguese). Volume 2 of Colecção "Novos estudos eborenses" Volume 2 of Novos Estudos e Eborenses. Câmara Municipal de Évora. p. 21. ISBN 972-96965-3-5. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  27. ↑ Cristovão Alão de Morais; Eugénio de Andrea da Cunha e Freitas (1699). Alexandre António Pereira de Miranda Vasconcellos; António Cruz, eds. Pedatura lusitana (nobiliário de famílias de Portugal) ... (in Portuguese). Volume 2 (Issue 1 of Pedatura lusitana). Livraria Fernando Machado. p. 276. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  28. ↑ Cristovão Alão de Morais; Eugénio de Andrea da Cunha e Freitas (1673). Alexandre António Pereira de Miranda Vasconcellos; António Cruz, eds. Pedatura lusitana (nobiliário de famílias de Portugal) ... (in Portuguese). Volume 4 (Issue 1 of Pedatura lusitana). Livraria Fernando Machado. p. 463. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  29. ↑ Sociedade Histórica da Independência de Portugal (Lisbon, Portugal) (2000). João Paulo Oliveira e Costa, ed. Descobridores do Brasil: exploradores do Atlântico e construtores do Estado da Índia (in Portuguese). Volume 8 of Memória lusíada. Sociedade Histórica da Independência de Portugal. p. 77. ISBN 9729326312. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  30. ↑ "Evora, Portugal Climate Summary". Weatherbase. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  31. ↑ "Climate normals 1981-2010 - Évora". Portuguese Institute of Meteorology. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  32. ↑ "Climate Normals - Évora 1981-2010". Portuguese Institute of Meteorology. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  33. ↑ Região de Turismo de Évora in Portuguese.
  34. ↑ Diário da República. "Law nr. 11-A/2013, page 552 46" (pdf) (in Portuguese). Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  35. ↑ (Portuguese)Évora aprova isenções fiscais aos projectos da Embraer, Diário Digital (22 August 2008)
  36. ↑ Guia de Portugal. Estremadura, Alentejo, Algarve. Ed. F. C. Gulbenkian, 1991. p. 54.
Sources

External links