Igreja de São Francisco

Évora


Évora’s best-known church is a tall and huge Manueline-Gothic structure, completed around 1510 and dedicated to St Francis. Legend has it that the Portuguese playwright Gil Vicente is buried here.

Exuberant nautical motifs celebrating the Age of Discoveries deck the walls and reflect the confident, booming mood of the time. It’s all topped by a cross of Christ’s order and dome.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Évora attractions

1. Capela dos Ossos

0.01 MILES

One of Évora’s most popular sights is also one of its most chilling. The walls and columns of this mesmerising memento mori (reminder of death) are lined…

2. Igreja da Nossa Senhora da Graça

0.07 MILES

Down an alley off Rua da República is the curious baroque facade of this church, topped by four ungainly stone giants – as if they’ve strayed from a…

3. Galeria das Damas

0.09 MILES

Inside the walls of the 16th-century Palácio de Dom Manuel is the Galeria das Damas, an indecisive hybrid of Gothic, Manueline, neo-Moorish and…

4. Praça do Giraldo

0.11 MILES

The city’s main square has seen some potent moments in Portuguese history, including the 1483 execution of Fernando, Duke of Bragança; the public burning…

5. Jardim Público

0.12 MILES

For a lovely tranquil stroll, head to the light-dappled public gardens (with a small outdoor cafe) south of the Igreja de São Francisco. Inside the walls…

6. Igreja do Carmo

0.17 MILES

The extraordinary knotted Manueline stone doorway of the Igreja do Carmo lies south of Largo da Porta de Moura.

7. Museu Relogio

0.18 MILES

This is one of two watch museums that houses one family’s extraordinary private collection (the other is in Serpa). You name it – if it ticks, chimes,…

8. Aldeia da Terra

0.19 MILES

The artist Tiago Cabeça has created this wondrous miniature world of Portugal moulded in clay and peopled with humorous and irreverent characters. You'll…