Cid's Spain © Mark Wade

Major town in southern Portugal. A walled city since Roman times, it was conquered by the Muslims in 715. It retains its Moorish character to the present, with white washed houses in narrow alleys with overhanging arches and gardens.

Evora was conquered by Geraldo Sempavor in 1165 without a fight. It thereafter became the preferred capital of the Kings of Portugal until Spanish annexation in 1580. Most of the major buildings in town date from the Renaissance or later, but traces of the original Roman walls, as reinforced by the Vandals in the 7th Century, can be seen between the Palaces of the Dukes of Cadaval and that of the Counts of Basto. Latitude: 38.55. Longitude: -7.95..

• Book I Chapter XIII:

  Now the greater part of these Moors had been they of Merida, Badajoz, Beja and Evora, and the King was minded to requite them in their own land according to their deeds; and he entered into the heart of their country, carrying with him fire and sword, and pressed them sorely so that they yielded vassalage.