The best cycling routes around Trindade

The Castle of Beja, a central point of Beja

The iconic gatehouse of Beja Fortress

The castle walls of the fortress of Beja. The central point of the city

From this tower, we have a spectacular view of the Alentejo landscape. The fields are now full of olive and almond trees, but in the past, they were cultivated with wheat.

Dominating the skyline with an imposing presence, the Castle of Beja stands as a testament to the city’s resilient past. Dating back to the Moorish period, this ancient fortress has witnessed the ebb and flow of history, from medieval battles to tranquil periods of peace. As you ascend its weathered steps, you’re greeted by panoramic views that stretch across the Alentejo landscape.

Beja Castle is a National Monument. A medieval fortification that is the city's most emblematic monument. Its Keep Tower, almost 40 metres high, is considered by some authors to be the tallest military tower in the country. Beja Castle, and its Keep Tower in particular, is the city's best-known and most emblematic monument. It is a Gothic fortress whose construction began in the 13th century, shortly after the Christian conquest of the city, and continued through the 14th and possibly 15th centuries. Standing out from the fortress complex is the imposing Keep Tower, almost forty metres high, considered by some experts to be a masterpiece of European Gothic military architecture. In addition to the castle, the walls that, dating from the same period, surrounded the medieval city are still visible, with twenty-eight towers and their respective sections of the wall remaining.

The statue represents the queen, life-size and majestic in appearance, cast in cast bronze, and was originally placed in front of the museum, occupying the site where it is today, flanking the entrance to the museum, in 1961. The inauguration took place on 8 December 1958, to mark the fifth centenary of the birth of Queen Leonor. The then recently created Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation was the precursor to this event, promoted by a national committee, which included the mayor of Beja at the time, José António Silva. But who was Queen Leonor and what does she represent for the city of Beja? This queen was born in Beja in 1458, the daughter of D. Fernando and D. Brites, the first dukes of Beja, princes of Portugal, who in the second half of the 15th century founded one of the richest convents in the south of the country, the Royal Monastery of Our Lady of the Conception, where the museum bearing her name is located. Wife of King D. João II, and queen consort of Portugal from 1481 to 1495, she made an indelible impression in the areas of culture and charity. In the cultural field, she is known for her protection of Gil Vicente and Damião de Gois, for her support of the arts and the press, and for having also been responsible for the printed and translated version of the work O Espelho de Cristina, considered by some contemporary authors to be the beginning of the feminist movement, by Christine de Pisan. In the area of charity, she founded the mother institution of the charities, the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, an entity replicated throughout the kingdom. In 2025, 500 years after his death (1525), his legacy is still very much alive, the Misericórdias continue to exist and play a leading role in the country's social life.

The route continues in (2nd part)