Founded by the ancient Romans, fortified by the Moors, and glorified by the Portuguese kings, Evora impresses all tourists. It is an open-air museum with many monuments of ancient architecture, a magnificent cathedral, and the unique Church of St. Francis with a gloomy chapel made of human bones that terrifies visitors.

The majestic monument of sacred architecture replaced a Romanesque church at the turn of the 14th-15th centuries. The combination of the Gothic and Manueline styles with the Moorish elements made it a delightful temple and one of Evora's main attractions.

The central entrance is decorated with the emblem of King John II of Portugal, the pelican, and the one of King Manuel I of Portugal, the armillary sphere. To the left of the entrance, you can see the tomb of the Portuguese poet and dramaturge Gil Vicente, nicknamed the Troubadour.

The interior of the church, made in the Baroque and Renaissance styles, looks majestic and even pompous. Its main jewel is a magnificent 17th-century altar, richly decorated with gilded wood carvings and paintings by Flemish masters.

However, neither the splendor of the medieval church, nor the abundance of unique sculptures, nor even the ingenious sacred paintings can compete in popularity with the terrifying chapel belonging to the Church of St. Francis. The gray and sullen chapel contains more than 5,000 bones of the deceased citizens immured in its walls. Hence the name "Chapel of Bones" (Capela dos Ossos). The creation of such an unusual building was a necessity in the Middle Ages due to the lack of free space for burials, as well as the desire of church ministers to show everyone the evanescence of human life and the inevitability of death. This is confirmed by the inscription above the chapel entrance: "Nós ossos que aqui estamos pelos vossos esperamos". Translated from Portuguese, it means "We bones that here are, for yours await".