Historical courtyard of Évora University.
The University of Évora (Universidade de Évora) is a public university in Évora, Portugal.
[edit] History
The University of Évora, the second oldest in Portugal, was founded in the 16th century (1559) by Cardinal Infante Dom Henrique (the future king of Portugal), and by the Pope Paul IV, and it was delivered to the Society of Jesus.
The Jesuit college (Colégio do Espírito Santo) in Évora operated between 1559 and 1759. In this year and as a consequence of the Jesuit expulsion promoted by the Minister of the Kingdom Marquis of Pombal, it was closed.
The Colégio do Espírito Santo became famed as a centre of learning and rivalled the University of Coimbra. Among its eminent theologians and philosophers were Luis de Molina (1535-1600), Pedro de Fonseca (1528-1599), St. Francisco de Borja, St. João de Brito, Manuel Álvares. Several prelates of the Portuguese Empire were trained at this university: D. Afonso Mendes, Patriarch of Abyssinia, and D. Pedro Martins, first bishop of Japan. The classrooms are decorated with appropriate azulejos (ceramic tiles) such as "Plato teaching his followers" and "Aristotle teaching Alexander the Great".
The University of Évora resumed work in 1973 as a state-run university. The diplomas are granted in the 18th century Baroque chapel (Sala dos Actos) (restored in 1973), that dominates the Tuscan-arched Renaissance cloister.
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Coordinates: 38°34′23″N 7°54′15″W / 38.57301°N 7.90427°W / 38.57301; -7.90427
