Evora Fair

Evora Orientation

We arrived in Evora around noon and were able to check into our room. We dropped our bags and then headed out on an orientation walk with the group. Laurie headed back to the hotel for a quick nap while Matt headed out to lunch with part of the tour group. After lunch Matt visited the Chapel of the Bones, a chapel, created by Franciscan monks, lined with the bones. The chapel was created due to the fact that there were 43 cemeteries around the area due to the plague and the cemeteries were taking up valuable land. The monks decided to relocate many of those buried. Instead of interring the bones behind closed doors, the monks, who were concerned about society’s values at the time, thought it best to put them on display. The monks felt it was best to remind the people of Évora, a town noted for its wealth in the early 1600s, of the transience of material things in the undeniable presence of death. This is made clear by the thought-provoking message above the chapel door: “Nós ossos que aqui estamos, pelos vossos esperamos,” or: “We bones, are here, waiting for yours.” This point was further reinforced by a poem that hangs from one pillars:

“Where are you going in such a hurry traveler? Pause… do not advance your travel; You have no greater concern Than this one: that on which you focus your sight.
Recall how many have passed from this world, Reflect on your similar end, There is good reason to reflect If only all did the same.
Ponder, you so influenced by fate, Among all the many concerns of the world, So little do you reflect on death;
If by chance you glance at this place, Stop… for the sake of your journey, The more you pause, the further on your journey you will be.”

Father Antonio da Ascencao

After Laurie’s nap, she made a quick visit to the Chapel of Bones and then we enjoyed a short wine tasting. Before heading out to dinner, we took some time to rest back at the hotel.