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Beja (Portugal)
Encyclopedia
Beja (ˈbɛʒɐ) is a city in the Beja Municipality
in the Alentejo region, Portugal
. The municipality has a total area of 1,147.1 km² and a total population of 34,970 inhabitants. The city proper has a population of 21,658.
The municipality is composed of 18 parishes, and is the capital of the Beja District. The present Mayor is Francisco Santos, elected by the Unitarian Democratic Coalition
. The municipal holiday is Ascension Day. The Portuguese Air Force
has an airbase in the area - the Air Base No. 11
.
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 antiquity. Already inhabited in Celtic
times, the town was later named Pax Julia
by Julius Caesar
in 48 BCE, when he made peace with the Lusitanian
s. He raised the town to be the 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 a strategic road junction.
When the Visigoths took over the region, the town, then called Paca, became the seat of a bishop
ric. Saint Aprígio (died in 530) became the first Visigothic bishop of Paca. The town fell to the invading Omayyad army in 713.
Starting in 910 there were successive attempts of conquest and reconquest by the Christian kings. With the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba
in 1031, Beja became a taifa
, an independent Muslim-ruled principality. In 1144 the governor of Beja , Sidray ibn Wazir, helped the rebellion of the Muridun (disciples) led by Abul-Qasim Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Quasi in the Algarve against power of Seville
. In 1150 the town was captured by an army of the Almohads, who annexed it to their North-African empire. It was retaken in 1162 by Fernão Gonçalves, leading the army of the Portuguese king Afonso I. In 1175 Beja was recaptured again by the Almohads. It stayed under Muslim rule till 1234 when king Sancho II
finally recaptured the town from the Moors.
All these wars depopulated the town and gradually reduced it to rubble. Only with D. Manuel I
in 1521 did Beja again reach the status of city. It was attacked and occupied by the Portuguese and the Spanish armies during the Portuguese Restoration War
(1640–1667).
Beja became again the head of a bishopric in 1770, more than a thousand years after the fall of the Visigothic city. In 1808 Napoleonic troops under General Junot
sacked the city and massacred the inhabitants.
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 battlement
ed 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-vault
ed rooms with Gothic
windows. The merlon
s 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 turret
s and five gates. The castle now houses a small military museum.
The square in front of the castle is named after Gonçalo Mendes da Maia
or O Lidador, a brave knight killed in the battle against the Moors in 1170.
, standing next to the castle, is one of just four pre-Romanesque churches left in Portugal. Some parts date from the sixth century and the interior columns and capitals
are carved with foliages and geometric designs from the seventh century. Especially the column with birds attacking a snake is of particular note. It houses today a small archaeological museum with Visigothic art.
(dissolved in 1834), gradually expanding its collection. This Franciscan
convent had been established in 1459 by Infante Fernando, Duke of Viseu
and duke of Beja, next to his ducal palace. The construction continued until 1509.
It is an impressive building with a late-Gothic
lattice-worked architrave
running along the building. This elegant architrave resembles somewhat the architrave of the Monastery of Batalha, even if there are some early-Manueline
influences. Above the entrance porch on the western façade one can see the ajimez window (a mullion
ed window in Manueline and Moorish style) in the room of the abbess
, originating from the demolished palace of the dukes of Beja. The entrance door is embedded under an ogee
arch. A square bell-tower and a spire
with crocket
s tower above the complex. The convent has been classified as a national monument.
The entrance hall leads to the sumptuously gilded Baroque
chapel, consisting of a single nave under a semi-circular vault
. Three altars (one of the 17th century, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, and two of the 18th century, dedicated to St. Christopher and St. Bento) are decorated with gilded woodwork (talha dourada). The fourth altar, dedicated to St. John the Baptist
, was decorated with Florentine mosaics by José Ramalho in 1695.
On the wall are three religious azulejo
s dating from 1741, depicting scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist
The refectory and the claustro are decorated with exquisite azulejos, some dating from Moorish times, others from the 16th to the 18th centuries.
One enters the chapter house
through a Manueline portal from the quadra of St. John the Evangelist. The ribbed vault of this square room was distempered
during the renovations of 1727. The walls are covered with Arab-Hispanic azulejos with geometric and vegetal designs that are among the most important ceramic decorations in Portugal. Above the azulejos are some semicircular distempered paintings with religious themes: St. John the Baptist, St. John the Evangelist, St. Christopher, St. Clare and St. Francis of Assisi.
The museum houses also an important collection of Flemish, Spanish and Portuguese paintings from the 15th to the 18th centuries, among them:
The museum houses also the funeral monuments in late-Gothic style of the first abbess D. Uganda and of the Infante Fernando, Duke of Viseu
and his wife Beatriz of Portugal.
The archaeological collection of Fernando Nunes Ribeiro, donated to museum in 1987 after forty years of archaeological research, is on display on the upper floors: Visigothic and Roman artefacts, gravestones from the Bronze Age
with antique writings of the Iberians
and stele
s from the Iron Age
.
Among the several other artefacts in its collection, the museum possesses the Escudela de Pero de Faria, a unique piece of Chinese porcelain from 1541.
The love affair of Mariana Alcoforado, a 17th c. nun from the convent of the Poor Ladies, with the French officer Noël Bouton, Marquis de Chamilly and later Marshall of France, has made Beja famous in (mainly Portuguese and French) literary circles. Looking from her window, the janela de Mertola, she saw the young officer only once in 1641, while he was campaigning against the Spanish army in the Alentejo. She fell in love at once and wrote him five passionate letters. The Portuguese version of these letters don't exist anymore. They were "translated" into French and published in Brussels
in 1669 and soon in several other languages. These lyrical letters full of absolute passion, hope, pleas and despair were an instant success. In the same year the original publisher, Claude Barbin, published a sequel, again written by a Portuguese "lady of society" with seven new letters added to the original five. Later, several hack writers wrote serial stories on the same theme. The interest in these Portuguese love letters was so strong in the 17th century, that the word "portugaise" became synonymous for "passionate love letter". Even in recent years these letters have been transformed into a stage play "Cartas". It was performed in New York in the Bleecker Theatre’s Culture Project in 2001.
Beja Municipality
Beja Municipality is located Beja District. The city of Beja is located in the municipality.-Parishes:* Albernoa* Baleizão* Salvador* Santa Maria da Feira* Beja Santiago Maio* São João Baptista* Beringel* Cabeça Gorda* Mombeja...
in the Alentejo region, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. The municipality has a total area of 1,147.1 km² and a total population of 34,970 inhabitants. The city proper has a population of 21,658.
The municipality is composed of 18 parishes, and is the capital of the Beja District. The present Mayor is Francisco Santos, elected by the Unitarian Democratic Coalition
Unitarian Democratic Coalition
The Democratic Unity Coalition is an electoral and political coalition between the Portuguese Communist Party and the Ecologist Party "The Greens"...
. The municipal holiday is Ascension Day. The Portuguese Air Force
Portuguese Air Force
The Portuguese Air Force is the air force of Portugal. Formed on July 1, 1952, with the Aeronáutica Militar and Aviação Naval united in a single independent Air Force, it is one of the three branches of the Portuguese Armed Forces and its origins dates back to 1912, when the military aviation...
has an airbase in the area - the Air Base No. 11
Beja Airbase
Beja Air Base , designated as Air Base No. 11 is one of the most important military airbase in Portugal near the city of Beja, north of Algarve. It is used by the Portuguese Air Force and has two parallel runways in the 01/19 direction, the biggest being 3,500 meters long and 60 meters wide...
.
History
Celtici
]The Celtici were a Celtic tribe or group of tribes of the Iberian peninsula, inhabiting three definite areas: in what today are the provinces of Alentejo and the Algarve in Portugal; in the Province of Badajoz and north of Province of Huelva in Spain, in the ancient Baeturia; and along the...
times, the town was later named Pax Julia
Pax Julia
Pax Iulia or Colonia Civitas Pacensis was a city in the Roman province of Lusitania, today Beja, Portugal. Already inhabited in Celtic times around 400 BC, there are indications of a Carthaginian presence, and the city is mentioned by Polybius and Claudius Ptolemy in the second century BC...
by Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
in 48 BCE, when he made peace with the Lusitanian
Lusitanian
Lusitanian may refer to:*Lusitanians, an ancient people of western Iberian Peninsula.**Lusitanian language, the language of the ancient Lusitanians.**Lusitanian mythology, the mythology of the ancient Lusitanians....
s. He raised the town to be the capital of the southernmost province of Lusitania
Lusitania
Lusitania or Hispania Lusitania was an ancient Roman province including approximately all of modern Portugal south of the Douro river and part of modern Spain . It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people...
(Santarém and Braga were the other capitals of the conventi). During the reign of emperor Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
the thriving town became "Pax Augusta". It was already then a strategic road junction.
When the Visigoths took over the region, the town, then called Paca, became the seat of a bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
ric. Saint Aprígio (died in 530) became the first Visigothic bishop of Paca. The town fell to the invading Omayyad army in 713.
Starting in 910 there were successive attempts of conquest and reconquest by the Christian kings. With the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba
Caliphate of Córdoba
The Caliphate of Córdoba ruled the Iberian peninsula and part of North Africa, from the city of Córdoba, from 929 to 1031. This period was characterized by remarkable success in trade and culture; many of the masterpieces of Islamic Iberia were constructed in this period, including the famous...
in 1031, Beja became a taifa
Taifa
In the history of the Iberian Peninsula, a taifa was an independent Muslim-ruled principality, usually an emirate or petty kingdom, though there was one oligarchy, of which a number formed in the Al-Andalus after the final collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031.-Rise:The origins of...
, an independent Muslim-ruled principality. In 1144 the governor of Beja , Sidray ibn Wazir, helped the rebellion of the Muridun (disciples) led by Abul-Qasim Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Quasi in the Algarve against power of Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
. In 1150 the town was captured by an army of the Almohads, who annexed it to their North-African empire. It was retaken in 1162 by Fernão Gonçalves, leading the army of the Portuguese king Afonso I. In 1175 Beja was recaptured again by the Almohads. It stayed under Muslim rule till 1234 when king Sancho II
Sancho II of Portugal
Sancho II , nicknamed "the Pious" and "the Caped" or "the Capuched" , , fourth King of Portugal, was the eldest son of Afonso II of Portugal by his wife, Infanta Urraca of Castile...
finally recaptured the town from the Moors.
All these wars depopulated the town and gradually reduced it to rubble. Only with D. Manuel I
Manuel I of Portugal
Manuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal...
in 1521 did Beja again reach the status of city. It was attacked and occupied by the Portuguese and the Spanish armies during the Portuguese Restoration War
Portuguese Restoration War
Portuguese Restoration War was the name given by nineteenth-century 'romantic' historians to the war between Portugal and Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon . The revolution of 1640 ended the sixty-year period of dual monarchy in Portugal...
(1640–1667).
Beja became again the head of a bishopric in 1770, more than a thousand years after the fall of the Visigothic city. In 1808 Napoleonic troops under General Junot
Jean-Andoche Junot
Jean-Andoche Junot, 1st Duke of Abrantès was a French general during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.-Early life:...
sacked the city and massacred the inhabitants.
Castle
Denis of Portugal
Dinis , called the Farmer King , was the sixth King of Portugal and the Algarve. The eldest son of Afonso III of Portugal by his second wife, Beatrice of Castile and grandson of king Alfonso X of Castile , Dinis succeeded his father in 1279.-Biography:As heir to the throne, Infante Dinis was...
in the 13th century over the remains of a Roman castellum that had been fortified by the Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
. It consists of battlement
Battlement
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...
ed walls with four square corner towers and a central granite and marble keep
Keep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
(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-vault
Rib vault
The intersection of two or three barrel vaults produces a rib vault or ribbed vault when they are edged with an armature of piped masonry often carved in decorative patterns; compare groin vault, an older form of vault construction...
ed rooms with Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
windows. The merlon
Merlon
In architecture, a merlon forms the solid part of an embattled parapet, sometimes pierced by embrasures. The space between two merlons is usually called a crenel, although those later designed and used for cannons were called embrasures.-Etymology:...
s of the machicolation
Machicolation
A machicolation is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones, or other objects, could be dropped on attackers at the base of a defensive wall. The design was developed in the Middle Ages when the Norman crusaders returned. A machicolated battlement...
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 turret
Turret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
s and five gates. The castle now houses a small military museum.
The square in front of the castle is named after Gonçalo Mendes da Maia
Gonçalo Mendes da Maia
Gonçalo Mendes da Maia , also known as O Lidador , so named for his fearlessness in the struggle against the Saracens, was a Portuguese knight of the time of Afonso Henriques, about whom tradition relates important achievements in the events preceding the independence of Portugal...
or O Lidador, a brave knight killed in the battle against the Moors in 1170.
Visigothic Museum
The whitewashed Latin-Visigothic church of Santo Amaro, dedicated to Saint AmaroSaint Amaro
According to Christian tradition, Saint Amaro or Amarus the Pilgrim was an abbot and sailor who it was claimed sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to an earthly paradise. There are two historical figures who may have provided the basis for this legend. The first was a French penitent of the same...
, standing next to the castle, is one of just four pre-Romanesque churches left in Portugal. Some parts date from the sixth century and the interior columns and capitals
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
are carved with foliages and geometric designs from the seventh century. Especially the column with birds attacking a snake is of particular note. It houses today a small archaeological museum with Visigothic art.
Museu da Rainha D. Leonor
This regional museum was set up in 1927 and 1928 in the former convent Our Lady of the Conception (Convento de Nossa Senhora da Conceição) of the Order of Poor LadiesOrder of Poor Ladies
The Poor Clares also known as the Order of Saint Clare, the Order of Poor Ladies, the Poor Clare Sisters, the Clarisse, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Congregation, and the Second Order of St. Francis, , comprise several orders of nuns in the Catholic Church...
(dissolved in 1834), gradually expanding its collection. This Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
convent had been established in 1459 by Infante Fernando, Duke of Viseu
Infante Fernando, Duke of Viseu
The Infante Ferdinand, Prince of Portugal, Duke of Beja and Duke of Viseu was the third son of the Portuguese King Edward of Portugal and his wife Eleanor of Aragon.- Biography :...
and duke of Beja, next to his ducal palace. The construction continued until 1509.
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
lattice-worked architrave
Architrave
An architrave is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of the columns. It is an architectural element in Classical architecture.-Classical architecture:...
running along the building. This elegant architrave resembles somewhat the architrave of the Monastery of Batalha, even if there are some early-Manueline
Manueline
The Manueline, or Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese style of architectural ornamentation of the first decades of the 16th century, incorporating maritime elements and representations of the discoveries brought from the voyages of Vasco da Gama and Pedro Álvares Cabral...
influences. Above the entrance porch on the western façade one can see the ajimez window (a mullion
Mullion
A mullion is a vertical structural element which divides adjacent window units. The primary purpose of the mullion is as a structural support to an arch or lintel above the window opening. Its secondary purpose may be as a rigid support to the glazing of the window...
ed window in Manueline and Moorish style) in the room of the abbess
Abbess
An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....
, originating from the demolished palace of the dukes of Beja. The entrance door is embedded under an ogee
Ogee
An ogee is a curve , shaped somewhat like an S, consisting of two arcs that curve in opposite senses, so that the ends are parallel....
arch. A square bell-tower and a spire
Spire
A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....
with crocket
Crocket
A crocket is a hook-shaped decorative element common in Gothic architecture. It is in the form of a stylised carving of curled leaves, buds or flowers which is used at regular intervals to decorate the sloping edges of spires, finials, pinnacles, and wimpergs....
s tower above the complex. The convent has been classified as a national monument.
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
chapel, consisting of a single nave under a semi-circular vault
Vault (architecture)
A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
. Three altars (one of the 17th century, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, and two of the 18th century, dedicated to St. Christopher and St. Bento) are decorated with gilded woodwork (talha dourada). The fourth altar, dedicated to St. John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
, was decorated with Florentine mosaics by José Ramalho in 1695.
On the wall are three religious azulejo
Azulejo
Azulejo from the Arabic word Zellige زليج is a form of Portuguese or Spanish painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tilework. They have become a typical aspect of Portuguese culture, having been produced without interruption for five centuries...
s dating from 1741, depicting scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist
The refectory and the claustro are decorated with exquisite azulejos, some dating from Moorish times, others from the 16th to the 18th centuries.
One enters the chapter house
Chapter house
A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room attached to a cathedral or collegiate church in which meetings are held. They can also be found in medieval monasteries....
through a Manueline portal from the quadra of St. John the Evangelist. The ribbed vault of this square room was distempered
Painterwork
Painterwork accomplishes two things, namely the preservation and the coloration of the material which is painted. The compounds used for painting, taking the word as meaning a thin protective and/or decorative coat, are very numerous, including oil paint of many kinds, distemper, whitewash, tar;...
during the renovations of 1727. The walls are covered with Arab-Hispanic azulejos with geometric and vegetal designs that are among the most important ceramic decorations in Portugal. Above the azulejos are some semicircular distempered paintings with religious themes: St. John the Baptist, St. John the Evangelist, St. Christopher, St. Clare and St. Francis of Assisi.
The museum houses also an important collection of Flemish, Spanish and Portuguese paintings from the 15th to the 18th centuries, among them:
- Flemish paintings: "Virgin with Milk" (ca. 1530) and "Christ and His Apostles" (16th c.)
- Portuguese paintings: "Ecce Homo" (15th c.), "St. Vincent) by Vicente Gil and Manuel Vicente (16th c.), "Virgin with the Rose" by Francisco Campos (16th c.), "Mass of St. Gregory" probably by Gregório Lopes (16th c.), "Annunciation" (16th c.) and four paintings by António Nogueira (16th c.), "Last Supper" by Pedro Alexandrino (17th c.).
- Spanish paintings: St. AugustineAugustine of HippoAugustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
, "St. Jerome" and "Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew" by José de Ribera (Spanish, 17th c.), "Head of St. John the Baptist" (Spanish School, 17th c.)
The museum houses also the funeral monuments in late-Gothic style of the first abbess D. Uganda and of the Infante Fernando, Duke of Viseu
Infante Fernando, Duke of Viseu
The Infante Ferdinand, Prince of Portugal, Duke of Beja and Duke of Viseu was the third son of the Portuguese King Edward of Portugal and his wife Eleanor of Aragon.- Biography :...
and his wife Beatriz of Portugal.
The archaeological collection of Fernando Nunes Ribeiro, donated to museum in 1987 after forty years of archaeological research, is on display on the upper floors: Visigothic and Roman artefacts, gravestones from the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
with antique writings of the Iberians
Iberians
The Iberians were a set of peoples that Greek and Roman sources identified with that name in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula at least from the 6th century BC...
and stele
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
s from the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
.
Among the several other artefacts in its collection, the museum possesses the Escudela de Pero de Faria, a unique piece of Chinese porcelain from 1541.
Five Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun
Main article : Letters of a Portuguese NunLetters of a Portuguese Nun
The Letters of a Portuguese Nun , first published anonymously by Claude Barbin in Paris in 1669, is a work believed by most scholars to be epistolary fiction in the form of five letters written by Gabriel-Joseph de La Vergne, comte de Guilleragues , a minor peer, diplomat, secretary to the Prince...
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
in 1669 and soon in several other languages. These lyrical letters full of absolute passion, hope, pleas and despair were an instant success. In the same year the original publisher, Claude Barbin, published a sequel, again written by a Portuguese "lady of society" with seven new letters added to the original five. Later, several hack writers wrote serial stories on the same theme. The interest in these Portuguese love letters was so strong in the 17th century, that the word "portugaise" became synonymous for "passionate love letter". Even in recent years these letters have been transformed into a stage play "Cartas". It was performed in New York in the Bleecker Theatre’s Culture Project in 2001.
Climate
The climate in Beja (the hottest district capital Portuguese city) is influenced by the distance from the coast. It has cool winters (mild by European standards) and long hot summers. Snow is not very common, but sometimes it can snow twice or more in a year. The high in January is around 14 °C (57 °F) while the August and July high is around 33 °C (91 °F). The January low is 5 °C (41 °F) and in July and August is 16 °C (61 °F). The annual mean is around 16 °C (61 °F). The mean total rainfall in a year is 572 mm. The year of 2005 was particularly dry in Portugal and Beja suffered devastating forest fires in the rural areas.Notable people
- António Raposo TavaresAntonio Raposo TavaresAntónio Raposo Tavares o Velho was a Portuguese colonial bandeirante who explored mainland eastern South America and claimed it for Portugal, extending the territory of the colony beyond the limits imposed by the treaty of Tordesillas...
, o Velho, (Beja, Alentejo, Portugal, 1598 - São Paulo, Brazil, 1658), a Portuguese colonial bandeirante who explored mainland eastern South America and claimed it for Portugal, extending the territory of the colony beyond the limits imposed by the treaty of Tordesillas. - Mariana Alcoforado (Santa Maria da Feira, Beja, 22 April 1640 - Beja, 28 July 1723), Portuguese nun.
- Gonçalo Mendes da MaiaGonçalo Mendes da MaiaGonçalo Mendes da Maia , also known as O Lidador , so named for his fearlessness in the struggle against the Saracens, was a Portuguese knight of the time of Afonso Henriques, about whom tradition relates important achievements in the events preceding the independence of Portugal...
, Portuguese knight.
External links
- Town Hall official website
- Museum Queen Eleanor (in Portuguese)
- Carmel of Beja (in Portuguese)