Évora is a city that has been constantly occupied since the 6th century BCE. As a result, it has seen many occupiers who have left their mark. As it is in most cases, the mark that lasted was the Romans.
Not a folly. This what remains of the Roman Temple of Évora. It is falsely called the Temple of Diana after the goddess of the moon, chastity, and the hunt. It was originally built to honour and worship Agustus in the first century BCE. It has since been destroyed and rebuilt countless times and it is unlikely that any part of the original is in this structure. It has been used by Greeks to honour Zeus, as a centre for politics, and now stands in the middle of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Évora.
Of course, there are many cathedrals within the city. At some point they all begin to bled together so I will focus on Cathedral Évora because the stories are more interesting.
Most cathedrals are Roman Catholic and this one is no exception. The main way to tell is that everything in it is elaborate and covered in gold - Protestants were much uncomplicated. Less concerned with spending money to prove their faith. The upside is that Catholic churches are usually more beautiful to look at in terms of art and statuary and so forth.
A lot of Catholic art is the same. There isn't a lot of variation because deviation from the norm is heresy and there aren't enough hail Marys in the world to come back from that. Most heretic art is destroyed or hidden away. We never learn of it because victors write history. This church is not a place for victors.
As with any Catholic church, there is a depiction of the Virgin Mary. What makes Évora's Mary stand out is....well....
She's pregnant! There are incredibly few pregnant Madonnas in the world and I count myself lucky to have seen one. There was also another pregnant Madonna whose stomach opens to show a triptych of her life, but it was in a museum you had to pay to enter and Matthew 21:12-13 shows us that Jesus isn't so kind to people who change money inside a church. So I'm not about to take my chances.
What follows is one of my favourite travel stories. It might anger some people so if you're religious and easily offended maybe skip it. Or read it and have your delicate sensibilities challenged. Your call.
Some time between the 15th and 18th centuries, an artist was commissioned to paint a fresco for the church. Their name and the date are lost to time because people are uptight. The fresco they painted depicted Jesus baptizing Mary Magdalene. A woman. Pearls were clutched and gasps abounded and people probably died from shock. The elders of the church - who commissioned the painting in the first place - saw that the congregation lost their ever loving minds, decided that this must be destroyed immediately and the artist must give them back their money. The artist instead offered to "fix" the work to be a much more traditional John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. The church agreed and the artist came up with this:
Trans Jesus. The artist covered up Mary Magdalene's womanly bits with a cloth over her womanly hips and thighs, kept her crossed arms over her womanly boobs, and added a beard. Thus creating Trans Jesus. Slight alterations were made to Jesus to turn him in to John the Baptist as well. I guess Trans Jesus was okay bu the church because Trans Jesus is till around today.
There are many other beautiful parts of this church including cloisters. These are typical of most cathedrals that have cloisters and are not all that worthy of being in a subversive art post. Quite frankly, the star of this show is Trans Jesus.
I'll close out on something I found interesting. I've been in countless churches of various religions around the world. Most religions have an aspect to them where you can light a candle for some reason. These are typically physical candles with wicks and wax and flames. The effect is very beautiful, very spiritual and peaceful. it's also kind of expensive and wasteful; people typically pay about 50 cents to $1 per candle and that doesn't cover the cost of the candles. When the candles are burnt out, they're not reused in any way (that I know of). Plus the soot from the smoke when extinguished isn't much from just one candle, but over time with thousands of candles it builds up. Also fire is a real thing that is really bad.
Instead, Cathedral Évora offers LED candles. For €1, you can buy a candle under many of the statues and in the shrines or at the nave. I don't know how long they're illuminated for. I thought this was pretty innovative and noteworthy. I don't know if it is commonplace but I haven't seen it before or since.
Next: actual birthday.
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