Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Visiting the Cathedral:
Inside the
cathedral,
midway down the nave on the left, is a
15th-century painted marble statue of a pregnant Mary. It's thought that the first priests,
hoping to make converts out of Celtic pagans who worshipped mother goddesses, felt
they'd have more success if they kept the focus on fertility. Throughout Alentejo, there's
a deeply felt affinity for this ready-to-produce-a-savior Mary. Loved ones pray here for
blessings during difficult deliveries.
Across the aisle, a more realistic Renaissance Gabriel, added a century later, comes to
tell Mary her baby won't be just any child. The 16th-century pipe organ still works, and
the 18th-century high altar is Neoclassical. Step up close to the high altar to view the or-
nately decorated chapel filling the apse. The royal box (high on the right) looks down on
the space, which is decorated almost entirely by colored marble. Only the muscular Jesus
is not marble—it's carved in wood, yet matches the marble all around.
Each corner of the
cloister
bears a carving of one of the four evangelists. In the corner
near where you enter, a tight spiral stairway leads to the “roof,” providing a close-up view
of the cathedral's fine lantern tower, fortress-like crenellations, and grand views of the
Alentejo plains. The small but proud relief carved in the wall shows the local Christian
hero with two severed Muslim heads. This “fortress of God” design was typical of the
Portuguese Romanesque style. Back on ground level, a simple chapel niche (on opposite
