Capela dos Ossos

In the sixteenth century Évora's Franciscans faced a practical problem - dozens of monastic cemeteries taking up land the growing city needed - and a doctrinal opportunity. They exhumed the graves and built a chapel of the bones: walls and pillars faced in skulls and long bones set in mortar, an estimated five thousand individuals, arranged in patterns with two desiccated bodies hanging on one wall. Over the entrance runs the inscription Nós ossos que aqui estamos pelos vossos esperamos - we bones that are here await yours. It was not built to shock tourists but as a memento mori for a religious community and the townspeople, in the same tradition as the ossuaries of Rome, Kutná Hora and Faro. It sits inside the church of São Francisco, which also has a Manueline nave, and the visit includes a museum of sacred art above.

History

Franciscan friars built the chapel, exhuming an estimated 5,000 bodies from Évora's medieval cemeteries and arranging the bones in patterns across its walls (Wikipedia, Capela dos Ossos).

What's there

• The bone walls - skulls and long bones from around five thousand people set in mortar.
• The inscription - the line over the door addressing the visitor directly.
• The two bodies - desiccated remains hanging on one wall.
• The church - São Francisco's Manueline nave and the sacred art museum above.

When to go

Year-round. Thirty to sixty minutes including the museum. Mornings are quieter; the chapel is small and fills fast with groups.

Good to know

These are human remains and some visitors find it genuinely upsetting - decide before buying the ticket. The chapel is very small and gets congested. Photography is charged extra or restricted at times. Queues in season.

Nearby

The Roman temple and Évora cathedral are a short walk; the Água de Prata aqueduct is north.

Key facts