Church of St. John the Evangelist / Church of the Lords

The Church of São João Evangelista is particularly impressive due to the huge tile paintings that cover the entire walls and the magnificent altar.

The first name John has been widespread since biblical times, and so it should not surprise us to find a whole series of blesseds and saints with this name over the two millennia of Christianity. At the threshold between the Old and New Testaments, we encounter John the Baptist (also John the Baptist), to whom most churches dedicated to John are dedicated. But one of the four men who wrote the New Testament Gospels also bears this name. This church in Évora is dedicated to him, JOHN THE EVANGELIST. A long-standing church tradition has considered the evangelist to be identical with the apostle John mentioned in the Bible, but this is disputed in modern biblical scholarship.
"The Gospel of John exerts a peculiar fascination. It is difficult to escape its solemn, at times mystical language. It speaks to deep human needs and longings: hunger and thirst, the search for fulfilling eternal life, the longing for personal communion with God." (Franz-Josef Ortkemper)

Originally built as a monastery for the Lóios monks, the building today impresses with its richly decorated azulejos and Gothic architecture. The church is famous for its colorful wall tiles.