Évora: Temple of Diana

Portugal's best-preserved Roman city with the Temple of Diana standing proud. The medieval center grew around Roman foundations. Wine bars in the UNESCO old town serve excellent Alentejo wines.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Decode the Lie Every Guidebook Tells History · Free

   The temple everyone calls Diana's was never hers. Finding out why is the best story in Évora.

   At the centre of Évora's old forum stand 14 Corinthian columns that every guidebook calls the "Temple of Diana" — but you're looking at a temple built to Emperor AUGUSTUS in the 1st century AD, not Diana. A Portuguese priest named Father Manuel Fialho invented the "Diana" story in the 17th century. It stuck because medieval archaeologists found animal carcasses buried around the columns and assumed: offerings to the goddess of the hunt. They were wrong. The carcasses were from the BUTCHER SHOP that occupied this site (Largo do Conde de Vila Flor) from the 14th century until 1836. Monks literally ran a slaughterhouse inside a Roman temple for 500 years. Count the columns — 14 survive, each 7.68 metres tall, with Estremoz marble Corinthian capitals carved with marigolds, sunflowers, and roses. Come at night — it's illuminated after dark and free at any hour.

   Backup: If the square is crowded, come back after 9pm. Ask any local guide: "Was this temple actually dedicated to Diana?" Watch their expression shift.

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2. 2 Taste the Wine the Romans Left Behind Wine · Price: low

   DOC Vinho de Talha is the only legally protected amphora wine classification on earth. The Romans made it in vessels identical to these. You can taste it by the glass.

   Vinho de Talha DOC is made in clay amphorae called talhas — identical in proportion to the Roman dolia used across the empire. The vessels are sealed with pine resin (pez louro) using the same technique documented in Roman sources, with grapes fermenting for 8 days, then macerating on skins for 5-6 weeks. The wine legally cannot be opened until November 11 — St. Martin's Day — the same calendar rhythm Roman wine culture followed. Visit Enoteca Cartuxa (Rua Vasco da Gama 15, between the Roman temple and the Cathedral) and ask for "Vinho de Talha" by name. The wine will be cloudy, earthy, tannic, and orange or red depending on the variety. In 2010, when Portugal created the world's ONLY PDO for amphora wine, a handful of producers made 700 litres. Now: 80,000+ certified bottles annually.

   Backup: If no talha is available by the glass, order any Alentejo DOC white (Antão Vaz grape) — it was planted by Romans in this same soil. At Enoteca Cartuxa: a glass of the Cartuxa "Évora" label is from vines on land planted in 1517 by Jesuit monks.

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3. 3 Find Rome Hidden Under the Mayor's Office History · Free

   In 1987, workers renovating Évora's City Hall broke through a floor and discovered one of the Roman empire's most intact bath complexes. Nobody knew it was there.

   These are 2nd–3rd century AD Roman thermal baths — the laconicum (steam room) has a circular dome 9 metres in diameter, with a central marble tank 5 metres across. Beneath the visible floor: a hypocaust system of 48 brick columns that circulated hot air to heat the room. The baths were discovered in 1987 when workers cracked through the floor during routine renovations at the Câmara Municipal de Évora (City Hall), Praça de Sertório — nobody in Évora knew they were standing on top of a Roman bathhouse. Walk through the main entrance and look down into the excavated section (~300 m²). Count the small brick hypocaust columns — 48 of them, like a miniature forest. This is the same laconicum geometry used in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome — just 2,000 km and 2,000 years apart. FREE. Open Monday–Friday 9am–5:30pm.

   Backup: If City Hall is closed (weekend or holiday), the exterior of Praça de Sertório is still free to walk and the Roman temple is a 3-minute walk back east. A plaque marks the site.

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4. 4 Walk Inside the Living Aqueduct Adventure · Free

   On Rua do Cano, families built their homes inside the arches of a 16th-century aqueduct. Laundry hangs from windows in 26-metre Roman-style arches. This has been happening for 500 years.

   Citizens immediately started building houses into the arches when King João III's aqueduct arrived in 1537. Built by Francisco de Arruda — the same architect who helped design Belém Tower in Lisbon — the aqueduct runs 18 kilometres from the Divor river to Évora. "Água de Prata" means "Silver Water" — named for both the cost (one of Portugal's most expensive 16th-century projects) and the crystal clarity of the water. Walk slowly along Rua do Cano and Travessa das Casas Pintadas (500 metres northwest from the Roman temple). Some arches have windows, balconies, even small gardens. Some houses have front doors that open directly into the arch. At 5pm in late afternoon light, the limestone turns warm gold. The tallest arch is 26 metres.

   Backup: If the street is hard to find, ask anyone for "Rua do Cano" — it's well known locally. The Percurso da Água de Prata is a marked 8.3km trail following the aqueduct through cork oak forest back to the source.

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5. 5 Ask for the Wine That Sailed to Brazil in 1500 Wine · Price: moderate · Optional

   Pêra-Manca has been documented since the 15th century. When Pedro Álvares Cabral set sail to discover Brazil in 1500, he carried bottles of it. Only 9 vintages have been made since 1986.

   Pêra-Manca is made by Cartuxa — a winery on land where Jesuits planted vines in 1517, and Carthusian monks built their monastery between 1587–1598. The wine won gold medals in Bordeaux in the 1870s, then disappeared when phylloxera hit and the owner died. Cartuxa revived it in 1990. Since then: only 9 vintages have been released. The 2005 vintage was voted the world's best wine by Vivino's global community. Visit Enoteca Cartuxa (Rua Vasco da Gama 15, between the Roman temple and the Cathedral) and ask the staff: "Tem Pêra-Manca?" The red sells globally for ~€539 a bottle. The white: ~€79. If it's beyond budget, ask for the Cartuxa "Évora" label instead — same vines, same winemaker, same estate, around €10–15 a glass.

   Backup: Enoteca Cartuxa also sells bottles to take home. The Cartuxa wine tourism estate (Quinta de Valbom) is 10 minutes outside Évora by car — visits by appointment, includes the olive mill and full cellar tour.

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Insider tips

• The temple is beautifully lit at night

• The Chapel of Bones is macabre but fascinating

• Wine bars around Praça do Giraldo serve local wines

• The Roman baths beneath the town hall are worth seeing