Se+of+Evora

Built in the 12th century, the Se de Evora, also the Cathedral of Evora, features Roman-Gothic architecture. It is one of best examples of Gothic architecture and, built in 1280AD, is one of the oldest buildings in Portugal. The Se de Evora was dedicated to the Virgin Mary by the new Christian rulers in Evora. It was modeled after the Cathedral in Lisbon. It basically has the same floor plan. The Roman architecture shows the older parts of the church and the Gothic designs shows where things have been added. It can be found in the historic center if Evora.

There was a funny story that I read about this cathedral that said...a group of four old ladies were looking for proof of Vasco de Gama's visit to the church. They were told to climb some extremely uneven, crazy, badly lit stairs up the Torre. As they worked there way up the "stairs" they came to a room at the top of the tower. As they walked in expecting to see beautiful bells or maybe even some flags from De Gama's ships, they found three broken bells. Hoping to see proof of the explorers visit, they had to walk back down throughly disappointed. I thought this was pretty funny to picture. I was even hoping to see if we could find these bells. Like most old building it isn't uncommon to find alot of uneven and poorly lit buildings. The Cathedral sits on the highest point in town and should be easily visable.