Beja, Portugal Tourist Attractions

The starting point for a tour of Beja's old town is possibly the Praça da Concaiçao, embellished with a modern statue (1958) of Queen Eleanor (1458-1525). In this square is the surviving part of the Convent of the Conception (Nossa Senhora da Conceiçao), a small house of Poor Clares founded by the Infante Dom Fernando and his wife Dona Brites and built between 1459 and 1506. It shows clear Manueline features and currently houses the regional museum.In this convent lived the nun, Mariana Alcoforado (1640-1723) who, in 1665, from her window first saw the Chevalier de Chamilly. After getting to know him through her brother she embarked on an affair that ended with Chamilly's return to France in 1667. She is supposed to have sent her lover five passionate letters that were first published in 1667. These love letters which are enshrined in international literature as the "Lettres Portugaises" (letters of a Portuguese Nun) were probably, in fact, written not by the nun but by the Frenchman Gabriel-Joseph Guillerague (1636-1715).

Diagonally opposite the Convento N.S. da Conceiçao is the church of Santa Maria (13th C.). Its main facade is decorated with four small towers linked by Gothic arches.

Opposite the entrance to the Convento N.S. da Conceiçao cloisters an alley leads through the old town to the Praça da República, the focus of life in Beja and the site of a fine Manueline pelourinho (pillory column).

At the northwest end of the Praça da República stands the church of the Misericórdia, which was originally built by the Infante Dom Luís in 1550 as a market hall and was later converted, by the addition of a chapel, into a church with a very spacious portico. The original function of the building, with its nine bays of vaulting which are borne on columns, can still be recognized.

Past the Igreja da Misericórdia and above the town to the north is the massive Castle, built by King Dinis I about 1300 on the remains of a Roman fortress; it has a handsome crenellated tower, built partly of marble, from which there is a fine view; it is 40m/131ft tall, making it the highest castle tower in Portugal.On the lower floors of the castle are a small chapel and a large room with magnificent stellar vaulting.

Near the Castelo, beyond the Roman Évora Gate, stands the early Romanesque church of Santo Amaro. This oldest church in the town now houses a Visigothic Museum.

Below the Castelo, to the east, is the former Cathedral, in Renaissance style (1590; restored 1940).

The Ermida de Santo André lies Southwest of the town center, on the main road to Lisbon. It was founded in 1162 in thanksgiving for the recovery of the town from the Moors.

Big fair with handicrafts show, festival program, bullfights.

A few attractions of note are to be found outside the town of Beja.