praca do giraldo

The central square of Évora which was the first to have water from the aqueducts. It shares the name of Giraldo the Fearless who defeated the Moorish people.

Here, you are in large space that is the center of a radial concentric town. From here you can go to every part of th city, or simply stay seated at a table for a coffe or a snack, or having a meal. You can also walk around under the acades, visit the Arcada cafe, chek information in the tourist office opposite.

The Praca do Giraldo is a very nice square and a good spot to people watch, but as others have said here it's nothing special when compared to the countless other squares throughout Portugal. I'm not a big shopper and the square itself is pretty much surrounded by shops. Stuff I have no interest in. Not a lot of restaurants and from what I saw they were pretty touristy. That British flag on the English menu side of their sidewalk boards is a dead giveaway. But I'm not blaming the restaurants for providing the convenience of English menus. I just personally prefer places for the locals.Anyway, back to the square itself, it's not very big and it's pleasant--no question. But certainly not as beautiful as so many other squares I saw during my three week vacation in Portugal.

The main square of Evora is quite nice with many restaurants lining the streets. There are plenty of lanes to explore with tourist gift stores selling painted plates to cork bags & accessories.

We love the vibrancy and liveliness in the Praca which especially came to life in the evenings where the locals would gather around the fountain. There was a University initiation going on there which was very fun and entertaining.

This plaza is the nerve center of Evora. All the places to see are within 5-10 minutes walk from here. There are cafes and restaurants and shops all around. The lovely fountain near St. Anthony Church is worth a gander as is the church itself. Go and start your adventure...

Of course, you will visit this square on a trip to Evora but it wasn't anything spectacular. Take one walk around it, maybe have a coffee or a meal at one of the restaurants, check out the shops, and that's about it.

Just beautiful. A quick beer in one of the cafes and then explore, explore ... so much to see in such a small little place.

It is the central square of Évora and packed with restaurants and shops, but it's not a big deal. The only thing to do is to sit for a while near the fountain and watch people pass by.

It is called the "plaza" of Giraldo because of this man's astoundly (deceptive but extremely clever) accomplishment. When looking at the town's coat of arms, a man on horseback is shown with two heads at his feet. The coat of arms is up everywhere in the town center on the lamp posts of iron. Here is how the story goes:Geraldo the Fearless was a Christian Crusader knight (who must have been over-the-top gorgeous to pull this off). He told the first king of Portugal that he could defeat the Muslims and gain access to the town. Here is how the plan unfolded: Brave he was, to knock on the Muslim's front door and claim he was not like those other Christian guys and he needed safe harbor. It worked. He got inside the gates but still no "mission accomplished". Then, that silver-tongued rascal convinced the Muslim leader to allow him to marry his daughter. Guess what happens on the wedding night? Muslim bride-to-be and muslim leader father are beheaded (by Geraldo) and Geraldo opened the gates to the city to the King of Portugal. Thus, these two heads now roll on the ground by Geraldo's horse's feet for all eternity (or as long as the town has a coat of arms). The rest of the big square is a fun place to watch people. The old men sit on the benches, talking with each other, no doubt a lot of that "talk" is about how short the gir's dresses are, how high their high heels are, and so forth. Those beady little eyes of theirs are "on the move" although the rest of them are pretty permanently planted on those benches. The litle "rues" (narrow alley-like streets) contain many interesting little shops and some good eating places. Our favorite find was an Italian restaurant "L'Italiano Guera" (after all, one can only eat so much of boiled potatoes and salted cod before going, willingly, on a starvation diet).The college town atmosphere is very apparent and the students wear those traditional black cloaks, black suits (girls wear knee-length skirts), and the guys will often wear the traditional tri-corner hats. Although very conformingly conformist, the students find a way to add some of their personalities to the ensemble: fringes are cut on the bottom of the girls' cloaks to signify the number of boyfriends they have (or did have). Kind of like notches on a gun handle? Very colorful patches are sewn all over their cloaks. Patches for their neighborhoods, maybe even their favorite rock bands! Nice to see the spirit of individuality triumphantly resisting.This historic local is rich in Roman history, college spirit, and deeply entrenched local roots. Truly a delightful square in an equally delightful town.

Busy square in Evora by day, rather subdued when we went out for a walk at about 10:00 p.m. on a Saturday night. We ate lunch at one of the cafes -- found food standard (if a bit uninspired) Portuguese fare.

I guess you could say it is the main square in town and you will walk by it often since it is one of the most central locations. Didn't spend time there, as we chose to have coffee on one of the adjacent roads. But it was pretty full for a Monday and it seemed to have both tourists and locals alike.

Stayed in Evora 3 days. This square was mostly empty regardless of time of day. Nothing to see or do!

I didn't dislike any of it but was thankful I didn't have a room above it. Lots of events going on and lined with restaurants. One place we ate had the tables in the centre of the plaza (praca) and the waiter had to dodge traffic to deliver your food across a city street. People from all over Europe eating there and the Brasilian waiter (who spoke 4 languages fluently) did his best to introduce us all (As in " Hey you Spaniards and Germans, these people are from Canada!") Great fun!

This is a very pretty square but do not, under any circumstances, be tempted to buy a drink. We could not believe that 2 large beers, Sangria for 2 and a small bottle of water would cost 28 Euro's. Never again