Eastern Way

The walled perimeter of Evoramonte Castle dates back to the beginning of the 14th century when D. Dinis ordered the town fortification. From there, the panorama is grandiose and stern, with a vast and imperturbable horizon that takes our breath away. Today, Evoramonte is the seat of the European Network of Sites of Peace, a network of places in Europe where peace treaties or capitulations were signed, represented by public and private institutions, in order to work together to build a culture of peace and promote these places based on their Common Historical Heritage – the PEACE. In the time of D. João I, the castle became the property of D. Nuno Álvares Pereira and, about a century later, a formidable palace was built, marked by four cylindrical towers that define a quadrangular perimeter.

The work, of clear Italian influence, was conducted by the architect Francisco de Arruda in 1531.It’s history who makes the village. A history that is visible in the Igreja de São Pedro (St Peter) de Fora which, as the name indicates, was (still is) outside (“fora”) of Evoramonte. The temple is of medieval origin (as can be seen from the double arch window that still tears in the back wall of the main chapel), but it was partly destroyed by the earthquake of 1531, which led to an almost complete reconstruction of the whole. The main chapel was under construction in 1577, as was the main altarpiece, one of the most important Mannerist altarpieces in the Alentejo. Inside, the altarpieces of the chapel Santíssimo Nome de Jesus (Holy Name of Jesus), from the beginning of the 17th century, and the one of Santo António (St Anthony), already fully baroque, from the mid-18th century, are also noteworthy. The primary school, which adjoins the southern façade of the church, was built in 1878. The entrance to the temple is preceded by a small porch in the shape of a temple, and the front is crowned by an image of São Pedro, probably executed in the first half of the 16th century.

Only a pale image of what the pillory of Evoramonte might have been that evoked the autonomy of the county remains. It was broken on an uncertain date of the 19th century, and the parts ended up being lost, except for a parallelepiped plinth on which the column was based, and some stem elements, now integrated into the bell tower of the Igreja de Santa Maria (St Mary’s Church). Evoramonte was awarded a charter in 1248 and received a new charter from D. Manuel I in 1516. In 1855, with its integration in the municipality of Estremoz, the pillory ended up being demolished and never rebuilt again.

Still on the urban perimeter of Evoramonte, the church of Misericórdia (Mercy) stands out, as well as a church with porches, of the village’s heritage. The origin of the temple dates back to 1527, the year from which local Misericórdia is documented. At the main altar, there is an ara stone that bears the date of 1575, the approximate year to date the construction works of the temple. Everything indicates that it was always a Misericórdia of few resources, which didn’t have a hospital in the 19th century. Even so, it was the object of a relevant artistic filling, such as the azulejo tiles attributed to the workshop of Policarpo de Oliveira Bernardes and the two sets of processional flags, one from the mid-17th century and the other from the middle of the following century.