Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(Rua do Touro 33; 9.30am-12.30pm & 2-6pm Tue-Sun)
A charming, small museum, devoted
to the work of renowned Portuguese sculptor Jorge Vieira, who donated his works to Beja.
His monumental bulbous figures and strange creatures capture the imagination, calling to
mind Maurice Sendak's
Where the Wild Things Are
. Look out for Viera's linked ellipses
on Praça Diogo Fernandes de Beja.
Praça da República
PLAZA
This renovated attractive town square with a
pelourinho
(stone pillory) is the historic heart
GOOGLE MAP
, a hefty church with an immense porch - its crude stonework betrays its ori-
gins as a meat market. The
Planície Dourada
( 284 310 150;
www.rt-planiciedourada.pt
;
9am-12.30pm & 2-5.30pm)
building features an elegant Manueline colonnade.
Convento de Nossa
Senhora da Conceição
(Largo da Conceição; adult/child €2/free; 9.30am-12.30pm & 2-5.15pm Tue-Sun)
Founded in 1459, this
Franciscan convent was the location for the romance between a nun and soldier that in-
spired
Letters of a Portuguese Nun
.
Indeed a romantic setting, it's a delicate balance between no-nonsense Gothic and
Manueline flights of fancy. The interior is lavish - amazing highlights are the rococo
chapel with 17th- and 18th-century gilded woodwork, and a chapel inlaid with intricate
marble. The chapterhouse is incongruously Arabian, with a beautiful ceiling painted with
unfurling ferns, 16th-century tiles and a carved doorway. The cloister has some splendid
16th- and 17th-century
azulejos
.
man lamps, glass bottles and stelae, and 16th- and 17th- century paintings. The admission
fee includes entry to the Museu Visigótico.
MUSEUM
Núcleo Museológico da
Rua do Sembrano
(Rua do Sembrano; 9.30am-12.30pm & 2-5.45pm)
Opened in 2008, this modern museum
contains more than meets the eye - the exhibition is underfoot and displayed through a
glass floor. Iron Age finds were discovered here during building works in the 1980s, and
the site was deemed important enough to excavate and protect. Peer through the glass
ROMAN RUINS
