Inside the Church of Saint Francis in Évora
What is probably easy to forget when one visits the Capela dos Ossos or the Chapel of Bones in Évora is the fact that there is a much larger church here where the chapel is. It wasn’t immediately obvious to me how large this place was until i was actually outside the church. The church was so large that I would have wondered why would they build two massive churches here in town, the other one being the Cathedral of Évora. Looking at the size of the Church of Saint Francis, I think it would have given the cathedral a run for its money.
Chapel at the Church of Saint Francis in Évora
The Church of Saint Francis in Évora is described to be a gothic church but is rather different from most of the gothic churches that I have seen elsewhere. It doesn’t have the soaring columns which are typical of gothic style structures. What is immediately obvious here is the liberal use of bricks in the construction of the walls of the church. The mortar is plainly visible and it gives a very distinctive style to the interior of the church. As typical of large churches like these, there are twelve chapels which surround the church. Although, this place may not be as well known as the chapel of bones, I think visitors would be wrong to give this place a miss, after all, they are already there.
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