Beja, Portugal

Beja is the capital of the Beja district and a municipality of the Baixo Alentejo (33 394 inhabitants · 1 146 km²), on a low hill above a wide plain of wheat fields, olive groves and cork oaks. The city grew from the Roman town of Pax Julia, and the marble keep of its castle, ordered by King Dinis in 1310, rises about 40 metres above the old town.

The history of Beja has its own page.

Beaches in Beja

Beja has one inland bathing area on the national bathing-water register.

Monuments in Beja

• Beja Castle: a medieval castle on the Roman fortress, with a marble keep of about 40 metres and the Roman arch of the Porta de Évora.
• Pisões Roman Villa: a Roman country house of the 1st to 4th centuries, with mosaics and baths, about 10 kilometres south-west of the city.
• Igreja do Carmo: an 18th-century church on Largo do Carmo, with Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassical altars.

Museums and culture in Beja

• Beja Regional Museum: the museum of art and archaeology in the Convent of the Conceição, founded in 1459, with a Visigothic branch in the Church of Santo Amaro.
• Rua do Sembrano: an archaeological centre that shows Iron Age walls and Roman baths under the street.
• Cante Alentejano: the choral singing of the Alentejo, inscribed by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2014.

Nature in Beja

• Parque da Cidade: the city park, with a lake, gardens and play areas.
• The plain: the farmland of the Baixo Alentejo around the city, with wheat, olive groves and cork oaks.

Leisure in Beja

• City visits: Visiting Beja covers the airport, the old town, Cante Alentejano, the food and the fairs.
• In the district: the historic town of Mértola on the Guadiana, the Alqueva lake and the Atlantic coast at Zambujeira do Mar are the best-known places of the Beja district.

Parishes of Beja

• Albernoa (889 inhabitants · 209 km²): the largest parish of the municipality by area.
• Baleizão (884 inhabitants · 140 km²)
• Beja (Salvador e Santa Maria da Feira) (10 710 inhabitants · 23 km²): a city parish, with the Regional Museum in the old town.
• Beja (Santiago Maior e São João Baptista) (13 363 inhabitants · 51 km²): a city parish and the most populous parish of the municipality, which includes the Pisões Roman Villa.
• Beringel (1 188 inhabitants · 16 km²)
• Cabeça Gorda (1 125 inhabitants · 78 km²)
• Nossa Senhora das Neves (1 525 inhabitants · 53 km²)
• Salvada (1 181 inhabitants · 200 km²)
• Santa Clara de Louredo (747 inhabitants · 72 km²)
• Santa Vitória (784 inhabitants · 166 km²)
• São Matias (513 inhabitants · 70 km²)
• Trigaches (485 inhabitants · 68 km²)

Healthcare in Beja

Guides to Beja