Evora, Portugal part 3 – Church St. Francisco

The first Franciscans arrived Évora in 1224 from Galicia. Only traces of the Gothic church and part of the cloister, built in 1376, remain from the original convent.The Kings’ interest in installing a palace in Évora, in part of the convent, led in return to the construction of a new church over the old church, to provide dignity and beauty in keeping with a royal palace. Building work started under Afonso V and great progress was made under João II, the church reaching its architectural and artistic magnificence under Manuel. Known in the 16th century as the Convent of Gold, it was di cult to maintain these prerogatives after the palace was abandoned and Filipe II (Philip III of Spain) handed it over to the religious order. From the late 16th century, the Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance exercised a strong devotional and artistic influence on the church, hiring acclaimed craftsmen for the installation and decoration of its Chapel and its office, the Casa do Despacho. The dissolution of the religious orders in 1834 led to the rapid deterioration of the convent building. The church and the Chapel of the Bones survived, due in part to the Third Order, to intense popular devotion to the Senhor dos Passos and to the moving of the seat of the parish of São Pedro to the church.In 1892-95, most of the ruined convent was sold at a public auction to the local benefactor Francisco Barahona, who had the existing rooms built and contributed generously to the restoration of the church and the Chapel of Bones.Extensive renovation work in 2014-2015 restored all the church’s functional and historical dignity. – Text: Igreja São Francisco, Evora, Portugal