The story of Cathedral of Évora

Évora was definitively taken from Arab rule in 1166 by Geraldo Sem Pavor, Gerald the Fearless, and soon afterwards the new Christian rulers began a cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary on the highest point of the city. The first, very modest building, from 1186 to 1204, was enlarged around 1280 to 1340 in early Gothic style, and it became the largest of Portugal's medieval cathedrals.

Look at the rose granite facade: two massive towers, each with a different conical spire, flank the entrance gallery, and around the main portal stand huge statues of the Apostles carved in the 1330s. It is widely believed that the flags of Vasco da Gama's fleet were blessed here in 1497, before his first voyage to the East.

Later centuries added a Gothic cloister, a Manueline chapel and a Baroque main chapel. In the 16th and 17th centuries the cathedral was home to the School of Évora, a school of polyphony that played an important role in the music history of Portugal.