Evora Portugal Oct 30

 We crossed into Portugal after leaving Aracena, Spain. We arrived at Evora, Portugal.

Evora had a thriving Jewish population as late as 1495 (The persecution came about suddenly as explained in a separate post on this blog). The first two images are in what was once the Jewish section of town. 


In the third image, is the doorway of what was once the chief synagogue in the town. Apparently, the shape of the door was the clue and was confirmed by archeology. 

That's Ann and Beth in front of the door.






The fourth image is Tamara (Beth) in front of a sign that says, "Travessa de tamara" which means 'Tamara Crossing' in Portuguese.




The fifth image is in a town square. The building to the left is the Bank of Portugal. We had 3 cokes and a beer for about $5 here.
    

The sixth image (from wikipedia) is the local cathedral, the Se of Evora ('Se' in Portuguese means 'Cathedral'). It is a Gothic style structure (bulky towers and narrow windows) but has mismatched towers which is one of the few such structures in the world.






The seventh image is the former residence of the Inquisitor of Evora (right) and his office (left). One of our group is taking a picture.






The eighth image is Beth and George in front of a structure being restored. The structure is called 'The Temple of Diana'. It is the best preserved Roman temple in the Iberian Peninsula and one of the best in the world. 

The colloquial name is, however, misleading as it was constructed to be a temple to Augustus who was, on 1 January 42 CE (28 years after his death) declared a god by the imperial Senate. The ninth image, from evora-portugal.com shows the temple before the screen was placed over it. Not seeing the temple without the screen was a disappointment but that's the way it goes.


 
The eleventh image is of a Moorish tower near the center of town. George and Beth and many of our group are in the image.

 The two stones just to the left of the tower are called the kissing stones (they touch).


 




The 12th image is George in front of a barber shop. It is as close as we got to the Barber of Seville (yes, its in Evora, Portugal and not Spain but its the only barber shop we actually got near that I can remember) .