Used as a slaughterhouse until 1870, the Temple of Diana in the central square is the best-preserved Roman temple in Portugal, its stark remains consisting of a small platform supporting more than a dozen granite columns with a marble entablature. Directly opposite, the former Convento dos Loios , now converted into a luxuriant pousada , has been partly attributed to Francisco de Arruda, architect of the Tower of Belem in Lisbon. To the left of the pousada lies the church of the convent, dedicated to Sao Joao Evangelista . This is the private property of the ducal Cadaval family, who still occupy a wing or two of the adjacent ancestral palace. Wait outside and you should be admitted (Tues-Sun 10am-12.30pm & 2-5pm; €2.50) to see its azulejos (decorative tiling), trick paintings and ossuary.

The Cathedral , or Se (daily 9am-12.30pm & 2-5pm), was begun in 1186, about twenty years after the reconquest of Evora from the Moors, and the Romanesque solidity of its two huge square towers and battlemented roofline contrasts sharply with the pointed Gothic arches of the porch and central window. The interior is more straightforwardly Gothic, although the choir and high altar were remodelled in the eighteenth century. Adjacent, in the archbishop's palace, is the excellent Museu de Evora (Tues-Sun 10am-12.30pm & 2-5pm; €1.50), which houses important collections of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Flemish and Portuguese paintings assembled from the city's churches and convents.

Perhaps the most memorable sight in Evora is the Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones; 9am-1pm & 2.30-5.30/6.30pm; €1.50) in the church of Sao Francisco , close to the bus station. A gruesome reminder of mortality, the walls and pillars of this chilling chamber are entirely covered with the bones of more than 5000 monks; an inscription over the door reads, "Nos ossos que aqui estamos, Pelos vossos esperamos" (We bones here are waiting for your bones). Another interesting feature of this church is its large porch, which combines pointed, rounded and horseshoe arches in a manner typical of Manueline architecture. Appropriately enough, the restored Palacio de Dom Manuel - the king who gave his name to the style - lies no more than a minute's walk away, in the Jardim Publico.