�?vora

city

Ancient

Ebora

Place Type
city
Ancient Name
Ebora
Archaeological Type
city

PLEIADES platform information on Classical Antiquity

Pleiades ID: 256151

A Roman city with likely Celtic roots and a long, subsequent architectural history, the historic center of modern Évora in Portugal was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1986.

See Further

  • BAtlas 26 C3 Ebora
    Talbert, Richard J. A., ed. Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2000. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/43970336.
    Access
  • Alarcão 1988 II.3, 159-60
    Alarcão, Jorge de. Roman Portugal. 2 in 4 vols. Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1988. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/37821577.
    Access
  • TIR Emerita 75-76
    Alarcão, Jorge de, Adela Cepas, José Ignacio Reguera Cardiel, Angela Alonso Sánchez, and Union académique internationale, eds. Tabula Imperii Romani. Hoja J-29 : Lisboa : Emerita, Scallabis, Pax Iulia, Gades: sobre la base cartográfica del mapa a escala 1:1000000 del IGN. Tabula Imperii Romani J-29. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas : Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Transportes y Medio Ambiente, Instituto Geográfico Nacional : Ministerio de Cultura, 1995. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/36156421.
    Access
  • WHL 361: Historic Centre of Évora
    UNESCO World Heritage Centre. World Heritage List, 1978. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/.
    Access
  • PECS (Perseus) EBORA (Évora) Alentejo, Portugal
    Stillwell, Richard, William L MacDonald, and Marian Holland McAllister, eds. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1976. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0006.
    Access
  • ToposText Ebora (Lusitania)
    Kiesling, Brady. ToposText – a Reference Tool for Greek Civilization. Version 2.0. Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, 2016-.
    Access
  • Plana-Mallart 1995
    Plana-Mallart, R. “Ebora et son territoire.” In Cité et territoire. Colloque européen, Béziers 14 - 16 octobre 1994, 231–42, Abb. Paris: Belles Lettres, 1995.

Learn more ...

  • Wikipedia (English) Évora
    Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit (2001-), Évora.
    Access
la pt

Citation

Jr., F.H. Stanley, and R.C. Knapp. "Ebora" Pleiades, 23 June 2025. https://pleiades.stoa.org/places/256151.
Last modified: 2025-06-23T14:59:03Z

Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites (PECS)

PECS Reference

EBORA (Évora) Alentejo, Portugal.

Mentioned by Ptolemy (2.5), Mela (3.1), Pliny (HN 4.22), and in the Antonine Itinerary. It was also called Liberalitas Iulia, a name received from Julius Caesar or Octavian before 27 B.C. The name Ebora is Celtic, but nothing is known of the prehistoric town. According to one tradition Sertorius established his base of operations in the peninsula here. From Caesar or Octavian it received the Latium vetus and from Vespasian the status of municipium.

In the center of the town and on one of its two highest points stands one of the best-preserved temples in the peninsula, the so-called Temple of Diana. It is peripteral and hexastyle, and a temple of the imperial cult. The foundations of opus incertum measure 25 by 15 m and are 3.5 m high. On the N side are preserved six original granite columns 7.68 m high, with capitals of local marble. The colonnades of the W and E sides are incomplete, and the facade has disappeared completely. Some stones with bucrania and paterae, in the museum of the city, perhaps belong to the frieze.

At Praça do Giraldo there appears to have been a triumphal arch (perhaps the only one in Portuguese Lusitania), demolished in 1570. The circuit of the fortifications, erected at the end of the 3d c. A.D., can be entirely reconstructed. Many sections are still visible, especially on the Largo das Portas de Moura, the Largo dos Colegiais, and the streets of Menino Jesus and of Alcárcova. This Roman city had the largest number of families of Roman origin: Julia, Calpurnia, Canidia, and Catinia. The Julian family at the beginning of the 3d c. had a rich villa ca. 15 km from the city in a place now called Nossa Senhora da Tourega.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Túlio Espanca, Inventário Artístico de Portugal. VII. Concelho de Évora (1966)PI; A. Gracía y Bellido, “El recinto mural romano de Évora (Liberalitas Iulia),” Conimbriga 10 (1971) 85-92PI.

J.ALARCÃO

Nearby Points

Name
Category
Distance

Nearby Archaeological Sites

Name
Description
Distance

Location

View on Google Maps

38.572611, -7.907358

×