The Igreja de São Francisco (Church of St. Francis) is located in Évora

Évora

Évora is a municipality in Portugal. It has total area of 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....

, Portugal. It is best known for its lugubrious Chapel of the Bones

Capela dos Ossos

The Capela dos Ossos is one of the best known monuments in Évora, Portugal. It is a small interior chapel located next to the entrance of the Church of St. Francis...

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This huge church was built in Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 style (with some Manueline influences) between 1475 and the 1550s to the design of Martim Lourenço, replacing an earlier Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 church of 1226. This church is one of a kind through its narthex

Narthex

The narthex of a church is the entrance or lobby area, located at the end of the nave, at the far end from the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper...

 with arcade

Arcade (architecture)

An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....

s in front of the church. The arcade is formed by seven arches with different forms (semicircular, pointed or horseshoe arches), a typical blend of Gothic and Moorish elements.

The battlemented façade has conical or spiral-shaped spire

Spire

A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....

s. The Manueline entrance to the church carries above a pelican, emblem of king João II

John II of Portugal

John II , the Perfect Prince , was the thirteenth king of Portugal and the Algarves...

 and an armillary, emblem of king Manuel I

Manuel I of Portugal

Manuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal...

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The church shows majestic proportions : 36 x 34 x 24 m. The single, groin-vaulted

Groin vault

A groin vault or groined vault is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. The word groin refers to the edge between the intersecting vaults; cf. ribbed vault. Sometimes the arches of groin vaults are pointed instead of round...

 nave

Nave

In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

 gives a wide impression, accentuated by the white mortar on the walls and the columns. This is the largest nave of this kind to be found in Portuguese churches. The spacious vault of the crossing rests on ogival arches. The father of Portuguese drama Gil Vicente

Gil Vicente

Gil Vicente , called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus,"[3] often referred to as the "Father of Portuguese drama" and as one of Western literature's...

 is buried at the left side of the entrance.
The chancel (early 16th century) with the main altar (from a later date) displays Renaissance features. But the choir stalls were made in different art styles : the right one in Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

, the left in Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

style. The altars in the transept are decorated with gilded sculpturework (talha dourada) framing 16th century panels, probably painted by Flemish artists.

The sides of the nave contain twelve open chapels, built between the buttresses of the wall.