St. Jordan's Garden

Category: Nature > Garden

District: Évora > Évora > Évora > Nossa Senhora da Tourega e Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe

Location

The place known as Jardim de São Jordão (Saint Jordan's Garden) is located in a rural and tranquil environment, in Évora, in the area of Nossa Senhora da Tourega and Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe. It is situated on a slight elevation, in the heart of Monte de São Jordão. The surrounding landscape is marked by extensive cork oak woodlands and cereal fields, characteristic of the Alentejo region, offering a serene atmosphere connected to nature.

The Hermitage of São Jordão: A Historical and Architectural Look

At this location, a hermitage dating back to the 16th and 18th centuries stands out. It is a religious construction of vernacular style, typical of rural Alentejo, with a unique architecture that combines a galilee, a single nave, and a chancel, complemented by a sacristy and a bell tower. Its facades, made of mixed stone and brick masonry, are whitewashed, contrasting with the surrounding greenery. The church portal, with its late-Renaissance design, invites observation of the artistic details of this historic building.

Visual Memories and Local Legends

Inside the hermitage, plastered walls reveal traces of various layers of mural paintings, some dating back to the 16th century and the year 1627. These paintings, once hidden by altarpieces made of carved wood, narrate old stories and devotions, including fragments with inscriptions that evoke their promoters. The place is also linked to the figure of Saint Jordan, a Roman-Eborense martyr, to whom tradition attributed the ability to cure "intermittent fevers," and who was reportedly martyred in Tourega in 305 AD, lending a rich symbolic dimension to this point of local history and faith.

The Alentejo Surroundings

What can be designated as Jardim de São Jordão is, in fact, the natural landscape that embraces the hermitage. Here, one can appreciate the vast panorama of Alentejo, with its cork oak woodlands and cereal fields stretching to the horizon. It is a place that invites the observation of rural tranquility, providing an experience of quietude and contact with the Alentejo nature, far from the hustle and bustle, where the history of the hermitage merges with the beauty of the landscape.

License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.pt