Location in Praça 1º de Maio, City of Évora, historic capital of Alentejo, headquarters of the District of Évora, Central Alentejo, Portugal
The Capela dos Ossos is one of the best-known monuments in Évora, and is located in the Church of São Francisco, and was built in the 17th century on the initiative of three Franciscan monks who, in the spirit of the time (religious counter-reformation in accordance with the regulations of the Council of Trent), and intended to convey the message of the transience of life as can be seen from the famous notice at the entrance: "We bones who are here for yours are waiting for you".
The temple is a small interior chapel located next to the entrance to the Church of São Francisco and is called “Capela dos Ossos” because the internal walls are covered and decorated with human skulls and bones.
In addition to the spiritual issue, there was also a physical issue. There were forty-two monastic cemeteries in the Évora region that were taking up too much space and strategic locations that many intended to use for other purposes.
So, they decided to remove the skeletons from the earth and use them to build and decorate the chapel.
The chapel, built on the site of the original monk's dormitory, is made up of 3 naves measuring 18.70 m long and 11 m wide, with light entering through three small openings on the left side.
Its walls and eight pillars are "decorated" with bones and skulls connected by brown cement, the vaults are made of white plastered brick painted with allegorical motifs of death.
The temple is a monument of penitential architecture of arches decorated with rows of skulls, cornices and white naves, and was estimated to contain around five thousand bones including skulls, vertebrae, femurs from the cemeteries, which were connected with brown cement and are arranged along the walls, ceiling, columns and outside.
The chapel was dedicated to Senhor dos Passos and was an image known in the city as Senhor Jesus da Casa dos Ossos, which is impressive for the expressiveness with which it represents the suffering of Jesus Christ on his journey with the cross to Calvary.
The chapel underwent restoration due to damage caused over time, and the construction of a museum of sacred art, and another for temporary exhibitions.
The chapel is formed by three spans 18.7 meters long and 11 meters wide. Light enters through three small openings on the left.
The walls and eight pillars are decorated with bones and skulls carefully arranged and held together by cement.
The ceiling is made of bricks painted white and painted with deadly motifs. The number of skeletons of friars was estimated at around 5,000, coming from cemeteries that were located within several dozen churches.
Some of these skulls were scrawled with graffiti, two dried corpses, one of which is a child that is in glass showcases, and on the roof of the chapel the phrase (The day of death is better than the day of birth).
Inside the Capela dos Ossos, a poem about the need to reflect on one's existence hangs from an old wooden frame on one of the pillars, and is attributed to Father António da Ascensão Teles, parish priest of the village of São Pedro (where the Church of São Francisco with the Capela dos Ossos was built) from 1845 to 1848.
The temple is a small interior chapel located next to the entrance to the Church of São Francisco and is called “Capela dos Ossos” because the internal walls are covered and decorated with human skulls and bones.
In addition to the spiritual issue, there was also a physical issue. There were forty-two monastic cemeteries in the Évora region that were taking up too much space and strategic locations that many intended to use for other purposes.
So, they decided to remove the skeletons from the earth and use them to build and decorate the chapel.
The chapel, built on the site of the original monk's dormitory, is made up of 3 naves measuring 18.70 m long and 11 m wide, with light entering through three small openings on the left side.
Its walls and eight pillars are "decorated" with bones and skulls connected by brown cement, the vaults are made of white plastered brick painted with allegorical motifs of death.
The temple is a monument of penitential architecture of arches decorated with rows of skulls, cornices and white naves, and was estimated to contain around five thousand bones including skulls, vertebrae, femurs from the cemeteries, which were connected with brown cement and are arranged along the walls, ceiling, columns and outside.
The chapel was dedicated to Senhor dos Passos and was an image known in the city as Senhor Jesus da Casa dos Ossos, which is impressive for the expressiveness with which it represents the suffering of Jesus Christ on his journey with the cross to Calvary.
The chapel underwent restoration due to damage caused over time, and the construction of a museum of sacred art, and another for temporary exhibitions.
The chapel is formed by three spans 18.7 meters long and 11 meters wide. Light enters through three small openings on the left.
The walls and eight pillars are decorated with bones and skulls carefully arranged and held together by cement.
The ceiling is made of bricks painted white and painted with deadly motifs. The number of skeletons of friars was estimated at around 5,000, coming from cemeteries that were located within several dozen churches.
Some of these skulls were scrawled with graffiti, two dried corpses, one of which is a child that is in glass showcases, and on the roof of the chapel the phrase (The day of death is better than the day of birth).
Inside the Capela dos Ossos, a poem about the need to reflect on one's existence hangs from an old wooden frame on one of the pillars, and is attributed to Father António da Ascensão Teles, parish priest of the village of São Pedro (where the Church of São Francisco with the Capela dos Ossos was built) from 1845 to 1848.
The Church and Convent of S. Francisco in Évora
The Church and Monastery of São Francisco is located in Praça 1º de Maio, City of Évora, historic capital of Alentejo, headquarters of the District of Évora, Central Alentejo, Portugal.
The first Franciscans arrived in Évora in 1224 from Galicia, and only traces of the Gothic church and a part of the cloister built in 1376 remain from the original convent.
The interest of the kings in installing the Palace in Évora, in a part of the convent, resulted in the rebuilding of a new church over the old one in order to give it the dignity and beauty consistent with the royal palace.
The works began with D. Afonso V, and had special development with D. João II, until they reached architectural and artistic magnificence with D. Manuel.
In the 16th century, known as the Convent of Gold, it was difficult to maintain such prerogatives with the abandonment of the Palace until Philip II ended up handing it over to the religious.
From the mid-17th century onwards, the Third Order of Penance of Saint Francis brought a strong devotional and artistic character to the church by hiring renowned masters to install and decorate its Chapel and Casa do Despacho.
In 1834, the extinction of the religious orders dictated the rapid decline of the conventual building, but the church and Capela dos Ossos remained due in part to the Third Order and the intense popular devotion to Senhor dos Passos and the transfer of the headquarters of the parish of São Pedro to the church.
In 1892-95, a large part of the ruined convent was sold at public auction to the worthy Eborense Francisco Barahona, who ordered the construction of houses that still exist today and generously collaborated in the restoration of the church and the Capela dos Ossos.
The temple was built in the Gothic style (with some Manueline influences) between 1475 and 1550 under the design of Martim Lourenço.
The Church is unique for its narthex with arcades at the front of the Church, the arcade is formed by seven arches of different shapes (semicircular, pointed or horseshoe arches), a typical mix of Gothic and Moorish elements.
The crenellated façade features conical or spiral pinnacles, and the church's Manueline portal bears above a pelican, the emblem of King João II, and an armillary, the emblem of King Manuel I.
The church has majestic proportions, the single groin-vaulted nave gives a broad impression accentuated by the white mortar on the walls and columns and is the largest nave of this type found in Portuguese churches.
The wide vault of the crossing is based on pointed arches, and the father of Portuguese drama Gil Vicente is buried on the left side of the entrance.
The chancel (early 16th century) with main altar (later) has Renaissance features, but the choir stalls were made in different styles of art: the right in the Renaissance and the left in the Baroque style,
The altars in the transept are decorated with golden sculptures (gilded carving) framing panels from the 16th century, probably painted by flamenco artists.
The sides of the nave contain twelve open chapels built between the wall buttresses.
The Church of S. Francisco and the Capela dos Ossos were subject to extensive rehabilitation, conservation and restoration works between June 2014 and October 2015.
The set of buildings presented worrying structural deficiencies and the rich movable heritage needed restoration, and it was also desired to improve the experience of liturgical practice, its main function.
The requalification project also included two new museum spaces: the galleries above the side chapels of the church now house the Canha da Silva family's rich Nativity Scene Collection.
In the old wing of the monks' cells above the Capela dos Ossos, the Museum Center was built with pieces of sacred art from various sources, formerly belonging to the church and the convent.
Finally, the entire building benefited from more adequate accessibility, appropriate lighting and a complete security system.
The first Franciscans arrived in Évora in 1224 from Galicia, and only traces of the Gothic church and a part of the cloister built in 1376 remain from the original convent.
The interest of the kings in installing the Palace in Évora, in a part of the convent, resulted in the rebuilding of a new church over the old one in order to give it the dignity and beauty consistent with the royal palace.
The works began with D. Afonso V, and had special development with D. João II, until they reached architectural and artistic magnificence with D. Manuel.
In the 16th century, known as the Convent of Gold, it was difficult to maintain such prerogatives with the abandonment of the Palace until Philip II ended up handing it over to the religious.
From the mid-17th century onwards, the Third Order of Penance of Saint Francis brought a strong devotional and artistic character to the church by hiring renowned masters to install and decorate its Chapel and Casa do Despacho.
In 1834, the extinction of the religious orders dictated the rapid decline of the conventual building, but the church and Capela dos Ossos remained due in part to the Third Order and the intense popular devotion to Senhor dos Passos and the transfer of the headquarters of the parish of São Pedro to the church.
In 1892-95, a large part of the ruined convent was sold at public auction to the worthy Eborense Francisco Barahona, who ordered the construction of houses that still exist today and generously collaborated in the restoration of the church and the Capela dos Ossos.
The temple was built in the Gothic style (with some Manueline influences) between 1475 and 1550 under the design of Martim Lourenço.
The Church is unique for its narthex with arcades at the front of the Church, the arcade is formed by seven arches of different shapes (semicircular, pointed or horseshoe arches), a typical mix of Gothic and Moorish elements.
The crenellated façade features conical or spiral pinnacles, and the church's Manueline portal bears above a pelican, the emblem of King João II, and an armillary, the emblem of King Manuel I.
The church has majestic proportions, the single groin-vaulted nave gives a broad impression accentuated by the white mortar on the walls and columns and is the largest nave of this type found in Portuguese churches.
The wide vault of the crossing is based on pointed arches, and the father of Portuguese drama Gil Vicente is buried on the left side of the entrance.
The chancel (early 16th century) with main altar (later) has Renaissance features, but the choir stalls were made in different styles of art: the right in the Renaissance and the left in the Baroque style,
The altars in the transept are decorated with golden sculptures (gilded carving) framing panels from the 16th century, probably painted by flamenco artists.
The sides of the nave contain twelve open chapels built between the wall buttresses.
The Church of S. Francisco and the Capela dos Ossos were subject to extensive rehabilitation, conservation and restoration works between June 2014 and October 2015.
The set of buildings presented worrying structural deficiencies and the rich movable heritage needed restoration, and it was also desired to improve the experience of liturgical practice, its main function.
The requalification project also included two new museum spaces: the galleries above the side chapels of the church now house the Canha da Silva family's rich Nativity Scene Collection.
In the old wing of the monks' cells above the Capela dos Ossos, the Museum Center was built with pieces of sacred art from various sources, formerly belonging to the church and the convent.
Finally, the entire building benefited from more adequate accessibility, appropriate lighting and a complete security system.
The Classification of the Church and Convent of S. Francisco in Évora
The Church of São Francisco is best known for its dismal Chapel of Bones, which was classified as a National Monument in 1910.
