The Castle of Evoramonte will be one of the rare Portuguese castles that combines unique characteristics: for the architectural ensemble that fits, for the excellence of the landscape that can be enjoyed, but also for its historical importance since it was there that the generals met in 26 May 1834 put an end to the only but bloody civil war that Portugal experienced.
Situated on top of a hill with more than 400 meters of altitude in the westernmost part of Serra d'Osa in Alentejo, the castle is close to Évora.
The architectural, civil and military heritage is vast. The walls, built by D.Dinis in 1306, open on four main doors: the Porta do Sol, the Porta do Freixo facing west and the Portas de S.Brás and S.Sebastião, which receive their name of the chapels dedicated to the same saints, located outside the Castle.
Turrets were added to the walls in order to prepare a castle for the new technologies of war, integrated in the so-called second line of border defense.
At the top of the hill is the monument, currently known as Torre / Paço de Évora Monte. Built in the early XVI century by the first Dukes of Bragança, D.Teodósio and D.Jaime, according to the most consensual historical theories, it is considered by many to be a demonstration and symbol of the power of the newborn Casa de Bragança, due to its location, greatness and visibility from many kilometers away.
With a unique architecture throughout the Iberian Peninsula, under the responsibility of the Arrudas brothers, the Tower/Paço de Évora Monte seems to have fulfilled two very different functions, since its military stronghold aspect would be nothing more than an externalization of the power of who inhabited it, being used only for hunting days.
The Evoramonte Convention, signed in this Castle by the Duke of Terceira and General Saldanha on the side of D. Pedro, and by General Azevedo Lemos on the side of D.Miguel, constituted not only the end of a bloody period in the history of Portugal, the well-known Liberal Wars and the return of Peace, but also the beginning of one of the periods of greatest political, economic and social development.
It is therefore not surprising that the idea of promoting peace at European level came from here, counting on the partnership of other places in Europe with similar historical characteristics, that is, places in Europe where important treaties or peace conventions were also signed and that, as in Evoramonte, are kept alive in the memory of these places.
