ÉVORA - Portugal - page 209

op (1512-1580). He later became King Henrique after his great-nephew, the young King
Sebastian, presumably died in North Africa in a disastrous attempt to chase the Moors
out of Africa. (Not the brightest plan.) Because Henrique was a cardinal—and therefore
supposedly chaste—he left no direct descendants when he died only two years later. Por-
tugal's throne passed to his cousin, King Philip II of Spain, beginning 60 years of Spanish
rule—and the start of Évora's decline.
Two hundred years after the Jesuit university was established, Marquês de Pombal (see
sidebar, here ) , the powerful minister of King José I, decided that the Jesuits had become
too rich, too political, and—as the sole teachers of society—too closed to modern think-
ing. He abolished the Jesuit society in 1759 and confiscated their wealth. The university
was closed. In the 19th century it became the local high school. Then, after the revolution
in 1976, it reopened as a secular university. Injecting 8,000 students into this town of al-
most 56,000 people (with 11,000 inside the walls) brought Évora a new vitality...and dis-
cos. Unlike an American-style centralized campus, the colleges are scattered throughout
the town.
Cost and Hours: Free to enter, usually open long hours daily. Info tel. [phone].