Cathedral of Évora
This article includes a improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (August 2021) ) |
Sé de Évora Évora Cathedral | ||
---|---|---|
District Évora District | | |
Province | Alentejo | |
Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Cathedral | |
Location | ||
Location | Évora, Portugal | |
Geographic coordinates | 38°34′18″N 7°54′24″W / 38.5718°N 7.9066°W | |
Architecture | ||
Type | Church | |
Style | Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline, Baroque | |
Groundbreaking | 1186 | |
Completed | 1746 | |
Website | ||
Sé de Évora |
The Cathedral of Évora (
It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988.[1]
History
It is common belief that flags of the fleet of
The most important historical figure associated with the cathedral was
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Cathedral of Évora was the setting of the so-called School of Évora of polyphony, which played an important role in the music history of Portugal. Composers related to the Cathedral include Mateus de Aranda and Manuel Mendes and his pupils Duarte Lobo and Filipe de Magalhães.[citation needed]
Art and architecture
Exterior
The main façade of Évora Cathedral, built with rose granite, resembles that of Lisbon Cathedral. Its two massive towers, completed in the 16th century, flank a narthex (entrance gallery) which encloses the main portal.
Over the narthex there is a huge window with Gothic tracery that illuminates the interior. Each tower has a different conical spire, one of them covered with mediaeval coloured tiles. Like other Portuguese churches of the time, the outer walls of Évora Cathedral are decorated with battlements, as well as decorative arcaded corbels.
The lantern tower over the crossing is very picturesque. It has a row of windows that bathe the transept area with light. Its spire, as well as spire of the tower above the crossing of the transept, is surrounded by six turrets, and each turret is a miniature copy of the tower itself. The design of the tower resembles that of other churches in the Duero valley: the Zamora Cathedral and the Torre del Gallo of the Old Cathedral of Salamanca, Santa María in Toro.
The
Interior
The Cathedral of Évora, built mainly between 1280 and 1340, was designed following closely the floor plan of Lisbon Cathedral, which had been built in the second half of the 12th century in Romanesque style. Like that church, the builders of Évora Cathedral designed a Latin cross church with a transept, a nave higher than its two aisles, a triforium (arched gallery over the central aisle) and an apse with three chapels. The crossing of the transept is topped by a dome, supported by pendentives, and an octagonal lantern. The transepts are lighted by two Gothic rose windows, one with the morning star and the other with the mystical rose.
The large nave has a pointed barrel vault. The interior space is accentuated by the use of white mortar on the bare high walls, pillars and vaults.
In the entrance, in the first two bays, there is a Manueline high choir by architect
In the middle of the central nave there is a large Baroque altar with a polychrome Gothic statue of a pregnant
The main chapel was totally rebuilt between 1718 and 1746, a work sponsored by
The 13 panels of the original painted
The chapel (Capela do Esporão) in the left transept was rebuilt in the 1520s in
Cloisters
The
Each corner of the cloister gallery has a marble Gothic statue of one of the Four Evangelists. The Capela do Fundador, the funerary chapel of bishop D. Pedro, builder of the cloisters, features his tomb with recumbent figure, a statue of the Archangel Gabriel and a polychromed statue of Mary. The upper storey of the cloisters, reachable via a spiral staircase, offers a grand view of the cathedral and the surrounding landscape.
Cathedral Museum
Exhibits in the cathedral museum include:
- the sceptre of Cardinal-King Henrique, a 16th-century goldsmithwork in Manueline style
- a puzzle-like, 12-inch-high Gothic ivory statue of Mary, whose midriff opens up into a triptych with nine scenes of her life – a French work of art from the 13th century. The head of the statue is a replica from the 16th century.
- the 17th-century reliquary of Santo Lenho (holy wood), supposedly containing pieces of Christ's Cross, of gilded silver and polychromed enamel, encrusted with 1426 true gems (840 diamonds, 402 rubies, 180 emeralds, two sapphires, one hyacinth and one cameo).
- a collection of canonicals from the 17th and the 18th centuries.
Some paintings in the collection are worthwhile, especially those by Gregório Lopes, Cristóvão de Figueiredo and Garcia Fernandes.
Notes
- ^ Historic Centre of Évora - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- ^ Sadia, José María (6 August 2022). "El desconocido origen de los cimborrios románicos apunta a Compostela". ElDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 August 2022.
References
- Portuguese Institute for Architectural Heritage [1]
- General Bureau for National Buildings and Monuments (Portugal) [2]
- Turner, J. - ISBN 0-19-517068-7
- The Rough Guide to Portugal - 11th edition March 2005 - ISBN 1-84353-438-X
- Rentes de Carvalho J. - Portugal, um guia para amigos - In Dutch translation : Portugal - De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam; ninth edition August 1999 ISBN 90-295-3466-4