The Capela dos Ossos, beside the church of São Francisco, is Évora's most unsettling and most visited monument: a 17th-century chapel whose walls and pillars are entirely faced with human bones and skulls, the remains of an estimated 5,000 people, exhumed from the city's overflowing medieval graveyards.
The Franciscan monks who built it intended a memento mori, and said so over the door: 'Nós ossos que aqui estamos, pelos vossos esperamos', we bones that are here, for yours we wait. Inside, the bone-clad vaults, the painted ceiling and the inscriptions make a space that is sombre rather than ghoulish, and unexpectedly beautiful.
The ticket includes the splendid Manueline-Gothic church of São Francisco above and a small museum; together they make one of the essential visits of the Alentejo.
Highlights
- Walls and pillars faced with bones of ~5,000 people
- Built by Franciscan monks as a memento mori
- The famous inscription over the door
- Ticket includes the church of São Francisco
- One of the essential visits of the Alentejo
History & context
Built in the early 17th century by Franciscan monks using bones from the city's old cemeteries, freeing burial ground while turning the remains into a lesson on mortality, a tradition shared by only a handful of chapels in Portugal.
Frequently asked questions
Is it suitable for children?
Many families visit; the chapel is sombre but not gory. Parents of younger children should judge by temperament.
What does the inscription mean?
'We bones that are here, for yours we wait', the monks' reminder that death comes to all.