IT IS hard to miss Évora. An hour's drive south-east of Lisbon across the vast, arid Alentejo plain, past twisted olive trees, whitewashed farmhouses and gnarled cork oaks, the city stands out on a hill dominated by its imposing cathedral.

Close up, this Unesco World Heritage site is just as impressive with a well-preserved medieval heart, numerous architectural delights and hardly any crowds.

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My wife and I were amazed to have the city's glorious temple all to ourselves, despite it being one of Iberia's best-preserved Roman monuments.

Rising from the cobbles of one of the city's prettiest squares, Largo Conde de Vila Flor, its Corinthian columns and giant marble podium pay homage to Roman glory two millennia gone.

The neighbouring former Lóios Convent is now a delightful parador, though we were more than happy to be based at the Hotel M'Ar De Ar Aqueduto. This five-star palace conversion with landscaped gardens is backed by the 16th-century brickwork of Évora's Aqueduct, whose six-mile length provides a popular hiking route into the surrounding countryside.

We were also the only visitors at the Palace of the Dukes of Cadaval as we took in the lifestyle of one of Portugal's most noble families through five centuries of exquisite possessions displayed in slightly careworn grandeur.

Afterwards, the Museum of Évora gave us a further taste of Roman mementoes, along with Renaissance art inside a former archbishop's palace.

Alentejo may be Portugal's poorest and least populated region but its cuisine is surprisingly good. We lunched at Taberna Quarta-Feira on Rua do Inverno, the first of two meals there as it was so delicious. A bottle of superb local Monte da Ravasqueira red appeared alongside a delicious grilled mushroom starter.

Wonderful slow-cooked "black pork" (a unique Alentejo breed descended from wild boar) followed, then a gorgeous pumpkin-and-walnut cake. The bill was less than %40 for two.

Reminders of Évora's historic prominence punctuate its maze of medieval cobbles. The city was court to several Portuguese kings and it was to Évora's 13th-century cathedral rather than Lisbon that the flags of Vasco da Gama's ships were brought for blessing before his epic voyages. We felt blessed to rest in its pretty cloisters after clambering up the steeple for the city's most sweeping views.

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For many visitors, though, Évora's most striking sight is the Chapel of Bones, attached to the Church of São Francisco.

We marvelled and shuddered at walls made of remains from around 5,000 skeletons, mixed incongruously with pretty blue tiles and murals into an unforgettable amalgam. The Portuguese inscription over the entrance adds a poetic memento mori: "We bones that are here await yours."

Thankfully, there's plenty of life nearby in Évora's main square, the Praça do Giraldo, where we paused for coffee and almost obligatory custard tarts.

Another day we lunched at Tasquinha do Oliveira on Rua Candido dos Reis. An array of starters were plunked temptingly on the table. It's common local practice and you pay only for those you taste.

We enjoyed gorgeous salt cod fritters and beautifully cooked octopus followed by white fish in a coriander soup and duck roasted with rice.

On our last day we drove 10 miles to see two of the prehistoric monuments that make the surrounding area an archaeological paradise. Down a dusty sideroad past stands of cork, olive and oak, we reach the Cromlech dos Almendres.

Justly dubbed "Iberia's Stonehenge", its dozens of granite monoliths have brooded imperiously on their hilltop for the last 5,000 years. A couple of miles east, we reflect on the simple beauty of charcoal drawings three times as old that adorn the Cave of Escoural with depictions of animals and ancient hunts. At both sites, once again, we're alone.

Timeless and undiscovered, what more could you want?

THE KNOWLEDGE:
easyJet (0843 104 5000/www.easyjet.com) return flights to Lisbon from £62.
Hotel M'Ar de Ar Aqueduto (dialling from the UK: 00 351 266 740 700/www.mardearhotels.com) doubles from £115 (two sharing), B&B. Avis (0844 581 0147/ www.avis.co.uk) offers seven days' car hire from £146.
Visit Alentejo: 269 498 680/www.visitalentejo.pt Portuguese National Tourist Office: 0207 201 6666/www.visitportugal.com