Beja - An Oasis In Desolate Surroundings

Days 50-52 - Sunday 14th to Tuesday 16th September

Log | Other Boats | After Ramprasad | Beja

My train journey to Beja took me through the Alentejo region, which had recently been subject to fierce fires that swept across the entire region. The Algarve and the Alentejo regions are miles upon miles of desolate, arid, dry mud fields, broken up by cork oaks and olive groves. The fact that much of Portugal suffers from a water shortage does not help. Two of the main rivers that supply much of Portugal’s water run from Spain, and the Spanish take much of the water before it reaches Portugal. The train journey took me through some of the starkest land I have ever seen, quite unlike anything else in Europe.

Beja, however, is a little oasis amongst this, with a sprinkling of old tourist attractions, all closed on the two days I spent there! Even so, a wander round the old walled town was a delight and the contrast of the very blue sky and whitewashed walls against the pastel coloured buildings and azulejos (colourful ceramic tiles) was quite striking. At night the town, lit only by dim street lamps, took on a blue hue, giving it a rather surreal feel.

Wine lovers should note that almost any wine from the Alentejo region is well worth a sample. At 1 euro a bottle I was rather spoilt (and drunk).

Log | Other Boats | After Ramprasad | Beja

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Boat: None (train)
Distance: 120km-ish
Leg: Portimao, Algarve to Beja, Alentejo
Destination lat/long
N 38° 02
W 7° 53

Beja

Population 34,970
Country Portugal

Situated on a hill (277 m), commanding a strategic position over the vast plains of the Baixo Alentejo, Beja was already an important place in the antiquity. Already inhabited in Celtic times, the town was later named Pax-Julia by Julius Caesar in 48 BC when he made peace with the Lusitanians. He raised the town to capital of the southernmost province of Lusitania Santarém and Braga were the other capitals of the conventi). During the reign of emperor Augustus the thriving town became "Pax Augusta". It was already then an strategic road junction . When the Visigoths took over the region, the town, then called Paca, became the seat of a bishopry. Saint Aprígio (died in 530) became the first Visigoth bishop of Paca. The town fell to the invading Omayyad army in 713.

The castle on top of the hill can be seen from afar and dominates the town. It was built, together with the town walls, under the reign of king Diniz in the 13th century over the remains of a Roman castellum that had been fortified by the Moors. It consists of battlemented walls with four square corner towers and a central granite and marble keep (Torre de Menagem), with its height of 40 m the highest in Portugal. The top of the keep can be accessed via a spiral staircase with 197 steps, passing three stellar-vaulted rooms with Gothic windows. The merlons of the machicolation around the keep are topped with small pyramids. Standing on the battlements, one has a sensational panorama over the surrounding landscape. One can also glimpse the remains of the city walls that once had forty turrets and five gates. The castle now houses a small military museum.

Source: Wikipedia