Beja Castle

Beja's castle was rebuilt by Dinis around 1300 on Roman and Moorish foundations, and its keep is the tallest in Portugal at about forty metres - a square tower of stone with marble details, battlemented, with three vaulted floors reached by a spiral stair and a terrace at the top. From it the Baixo Alentejo is spread out flat in every direction, wheat and cork to the horizon with almost nothing to interrupt the view, which is precisely why the tower is that height. The town below was Roman Pax Julia, an important centre, and traces survive along with a Visigothic church at Santo Amaro, one of the few pre-Moorish churches in Portugal, and the Convento da Conceição, associated with the Letters of a Portuguese Nun, a seventeenth-century epistolary sensation whose authorship is still argued about.

What you actually see

• The keep - about forty metres, the tallest medieval tower in Portugal.
• The terrace view - flat Alentejo wheat and cork country to the horizon.
• The vaulted floors - three interior levels on a spiral stair.
• The town - Roman Pax Julia beneath, with a Visigothic church at Santo Amaro.

When to go

March to June and September to November. One to two hours. Beja in July and August regularly exceeds forty degrees.

Honest expectations

The stair is narrow, steep and spiral, with no lift - it defeats a lot of visitors. Extreme summer heat in this part of the Alentejo. The terrace is exposed and windy. Museum hours in the town vary.

Nearby

The Convento da Conceição museum is in the town; Mértola is south down the Guadiana.