Cathedral of Évora

The Cathedral of Évora (Portuguese: Sé de Évora) is one of the oldest and most important monuments in the city of Évora, in Portugal, lying on the highest spot of the city. It is part of the historical city centre.

It has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988

A church building, often simply called a church, is a building used for religious activities particularly worship services. The term in its architectural sense is most often used by Christians to refer to their religious buildings but can be used by other religions. In traditional Christian architecture, the church is often arranged in the shape of a cross. When viewed from plan view the longest part of a cross is represented by the aisle and the junction of the cross is located at the altar area. Towers or domes are often added with the intention of directing the eye of the viewer towards the heavens and inspiring church visitors. Modern church buildings have a variety of architectural styles and layouts; many buildings that were designed for other purposes have now been converted for church use; and, similarly, many original church buildings have been put to other uses.

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with 1.2 billion members worldwide. It is among the oldest institutions in the world and has played a prominent role in the history of Western civilisation. The Catholic hierarchy is led by the Pope and includes cardinals, patriarchs and diocesan bishops. The Church teaches that it is the one true church divinely founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles and that the Pope is the sole successor to Saint Peter who has apostolic primacy.

The Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it presents as definitive is infallible. There are a variety of doctrinal and theological emphases within the Catholic Church, including the Eastern Catholic Churches, the personal ordinariates and religious communities such as the Jesuits, the Franciscans and the Dominicans.

Duomo is a term for a cathedral church. The formal word for a church that is currently a cathedral is cattedrale; a Duomo may be either a present or a former cathedral (the latter always in a town that no longer has a bishop nor therefore a cathedral, as for example Trevi). Some, like the Duomo of Monza, have never been cathedrals, although old and important. Many people refer to particular churches simply as "Il Duomo" or "The Duomo", without regard to the full proper name of the church. Similar words exist in other languages: Dom (German), Dóm (Hungarian & Slovakian), Dôme (French), Domkirke (Danish), Dómkirkja (Icelandic),Domo (Portuguese) Domkyrka (Swedish), Domkirke (Norwegian), Doms (Latvian), Toomkirik (Estonian), Tum (Polish), and Tuomiokirkko (Finnish). Also in these languages the respective terms do not necessarily refer to a church functioning as a cathedral, but also to proto-cathedrals or simply prominent church buildings, which have never been a cathedral in the exact sense of that word. In German the term Dom became the synecdoche, used - pars pro toto - for most existing or former collegiate churches. Therefore the uniform translation of these terms into English as cathedrals may not always be appropriate and should be used on a contextual basis.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, and to Lo Zingarelli, the word duomo derives from the Latin word "domus", meaning house, as a cathedral is the "house of God", or domus Dei. The Garzanti online dictionary also gives the etymology as deriving from house, but house of the bishop ("domu(m) (episcopi); 'casa (del vescovo)') instead of the house of God.

A cathedral (French cathédrale from Latin. cathedra, "seat" from the Greek kathedra (καθέδρα), seat, bench, from kata "down" + hedra seat, base, chair) is a Christian church which contains the seat of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Although the word "cathedral" is sometimes loosely applied, churches with the function of "cathedral" occur specifically and only in those denominations with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, and some Lutheran and Methodist churches. In the Greek Orthodox Church, the terms kathedrikos naos (literally: "cathedral shrine") is sometimes used for the church at which an archbishop or "metropolitan" presides. The term "metropolis" (literally "mother city") is used more commonly than "diocese" to signify an area of governance within the church.

There are certain variations on the use of the term "cathedral"; for example, some pre-Reformation cathedrals in Scotland now within the Church of Scotland still retain the term cathedral, despite that church's Presbyterian polity that does not have bishops. The same occurs in Germany, where Protestant churches (many with a presbyterian or congregational polity) co-operate under an umbrella organisation, the Evangelical Church in Germany, with some retaining cathedrals or using the term as a merely honorary title and function, void of any hierarchical supremacy. As cathedrals are often particularly impressive edifices, the term "cathedral" is often applied colloquially to any large and impressive church, regardless of whether it functions as a cathedral, such as the Crystal Cathedral in California or figuratively to imply that a church is of outstanding beauty such as St John the Baptist, Tideswell, known as the "Cathedral of the Peak".

Alentejo (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐlẽˈtɛʒu]) is a south-central region of Portugal. The origin of its name, "Além-Tejo", literally translates to "Beyond the Tagus" or "Across the Tagus". The region is separated from the rest of Portugal by the Tagus river, and extends to the south where it borders the Algarve. Alentejo is a region known for its polyphonic singing groups, comparable to those found on Sardinia and Corsica.

Its main cities are Évora, Elvas, Portalegre, Beja, Serpa, Moura and Sines.

Being a traditional region, it is also one of the more recent seven Regions of Portugal (NUTS II subdivisions). Today Lezíria do Tejo subregion, formerly belonging to Lisboa e Vale do Tejo region, is part of Alentejo NUTS II region.

Évora (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɛvuɾɐ] ( listen)) is a municipality in Portugal. It has total area of 1,307.0 km² (505 sq mi) with a population of 55,619 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Évora District and capital of the Alentejo region. The municipality is composed of 19 civil parishes, and is located in Évora District.

It contains the city of Évora.

The present Mayor is José Ernesto Oliveira of the Socialist Party. The municipal holiday is June 29.

Évora District (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɛvuɾɐ], Portuguese: Distrito de Évora) is located in Alentejo, in southern Portugal. The district capital is the city of Évora.

The district is composed by 14 municipalities: