The Capela dos Ossos is one of the curiosities of this great monument, being one of the ex-libris of the city of Évora. The chapel was built in the 16th and 17th centuries, in the place of the friars' original dormitory. Its construction came from the initiative of three Franciscan friars who wanted to provide a better reflection on the brevity of human life. The chapel consists of bones from the graves of the convent church and other churches and cemeteries in the city. The walls and part of the chapel's vaults are covered with thousands of human bones, which illustrate the idea of the founding monks, expressed in the sentence that tops the chapel's portico: We bones that are here, for your waiting.