' We Bones That Are Here ... ' - Evora

' We bones that here are, for yours await.' 

 ~

EVORA , ALENTEJO
Pronounced [ever-a]

Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones)

 
Might just be ... the most unusual place we have ever been!

This is a fascinating chapel with a very macabre atmosphere. It's a Unesco World Heritage Site and ranks as one of Evora’s most visited places. The small, unassuming chapel is home to the final resting place of parts of thousands of bodies; all exhumed from the city’s graveyards in the 16th Century.

 

' The Capela dos Ossos was built in the 16th century by a Franciscan monk who, in the Counter-Reformation spirit of that era, wanted to encourage his fellow brothers into contemplation and transmit the message of life being transitory. That message is clearly written in the warning at the chapel entrance ... Nós ossos que aqui estamos pelos vossos esperamos (“We bones that here are, for yours await"). '

   
The Chapel is formed by three spans 18.7 meters long and 11 meters wide. Light enters through three small openings on the left. Its walls and eight pillars are decorated in carefully arranged bones and skulls held together by cement. The ceiling is made of white painted brick and is painted with death motifs. The number of skeletons of monks was calculated to be about 5000, coming from the cemeteries that were situated inside several dozen churches. Some of these skulls have been scribbled with graffiti. Two desiccated corpses, one of which is a child, dangled from ropes at one time. And at the roof of the chapel, the phrase "Melior est die mortis die nativitatis (Better is the day of death than the day of birth)

 

 

 

 

Templo Romano de Evora (Roman Temple of Evora also called Roman Temple of Diana)

Both the Chapel of Bones and The Temple of Evora are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The temple is believed to have been constructed around the FIRST Century A.D., in honour of Augustus, who was venerated as a god during and after his rule. 

Read more here.

  

  

  Some nearby street scenes; parts of the old city wall, gargoyles on cathedral walls, an entrance gate.

Updating

Since leaving Barcelona, SPAIN we have gone 43 days without rain ... before seeing the first rain of this trip on our second last day in Lagos and some very heavy rain on our last night here in Evora, PORTUGAL. Our route has followed the Mediterranean coastline for most of the 3000+ kilometres we've driven. Other than a few day trips that took us inland, the only other time we will venture away from the coast will be the final leg between Evora and Lisboa. We'll spend 4 nights in Lisboa and then fly out to Dubai, UAE and then Changi, SINGAPORE. 

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 Wikipedia provides some content.

 

Crusty ... contemplating and transmitting!