Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Évora's golden age was from the 14th to 16th centuries, when it was favoured by the
Alentejo's own House of Avis, as well as by scholars and artists. Declared an archbishop-
ric in 1540, it got its own Jesuit university in 1559.
When Cardinal-King Dom Henrique, last of the Avis line, died in 1580 and Spain
seized the throne, the royal court left Évora and the town began wasting away. The Mar-
quês de Pombal's closure of the university in 1759 was the last straw. French forces
plundered the town and massacred its defenders in July 1808.
Ironically, it was decline itself that protected Évora's very fine old centre - economic
success would have led to greater redevelopment. Today its population is smaller than it
was in the Middle Ages.
