“The identified archaeological remains represent the urban transformations that have taken place in this area of the city of Évora since the end of the 13th century until today”, explained the institute, citing information from the reports.


According to Quantum Capital, the project will involve the construction of a four-star hotel with 51 rooms in the building of the former Convento do Carmo, with an opening scheduled for 2025. However, the two entities “have been monitoring the process of altering and expanding site”, with analysis from the institute “for the purposes of the heritage assessment of the identified archaeological remains”.

“Once the value of the findings is weighed, namely in terms of the patrimonial and scientific evaluation of the structures exposed, a decision can be made regarding the possible need for changes to the project”, Cultural Heritage assured.

The institute stated that the project “was approved in May 2020, by the then DGPC (General Directorate of Cultural Heritage), based on a proposal from the Regional Directorate of Culture of Alentejo”, recalling that acceptance is “conditioned on compliance with the appropriate archaeological diagnosis”.

“Since the beginning of the licensing process (2018), the opinions of the CCDR of Alentejo and the deliberations of the heritage authority (DGPC, Cultural Heritage, IP) indicate the high archaeological sensitivity of the site”, adds information from the reports.

The project licensed by the city council is required to comply with the existing standards for the city’s historic centre for prospecting and communicating archaeological remains. Local authority emphasises that “the powers of inspection, monitoring and definition of safeguarding measures in the area of architectural and archaeological heritage belong to the current Culture Unit of the CCDR of Alentejo”.