Bones and stones

What better way to start the day than a visit to the Royal Church of St. Francis in Évora, best known for its ghoulish Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones), where walls and pillars are lined with human skulls and bones. It was built in the 16th century by monks who wished to communicate the message of the transitory nature of life. Over the door is a painted message that reminds visitors of their own mortality: Nós ossos que aqui estamos, pelos vossos esperamos: "Our bones that are here await yours!"
There is an estimated 5,000 skeletons decorating the chapel.

We detoured onto the dirt roads to visit The Cromlech of Almendres, a circle of prehistoric stones with 95 stone monoliths. It was discovered in 1964 during mapping work for the Geological Map of Portugal. The vegetation was cleared and some pieces of pottery and a polished stone axe were discovered at the site. While we were there we placed a cache, our first overseas! Rui has kindly agreed to do any required maintenance on his regular visits to the site.

Next stop was the picturesque village of Monsaraz, built on top of a hill that overlooks the right bank of the Guadiana River which forms the border between Portugal and Spain. The village has a maze of narrow streets and small flower-filled squares, 750 inhabitants and six churches, as well as an impressive castle (no visit for us this time).

Monsaraz overlooks Lake Alqueva, the largest artificial lake in Europe. We crossed the main dam wall (458m long, 96m high) before starting on the Portuguese rollercoaster - 1 hour of bumpy roads followed by and hour of windy roads. We were certainly shaken and stirred by the time we arrived in Tavira, our stop for the night.

Tavira is a small city on the Algarve coast, particularly popular with English tourists. We had time for a walk around town before dinner outdoors on the promenade.Read more