Beja is the biggest district of Portugal, with a geographical area corresponding to 10 225 Kilometers, belonging to the traditional province of Baixo Alentejo and headquartered in the city of Beja.
It borders with the northern district of Evora in the east with Spain, at south with the district of Faro and west with the district of Setúbal and the Atlantic Ocean.
Distributed over 14 counties, the district is characterized by a flat geography and low density forest, stretching between the spanish border and the Atlantic coast, providing, as such, an unusual landscape contrast.
In the district, it marks presence, the Guadiana River, being that many are the tourist attractions in the district, besides Beja, also Serpa and Mértola. The region is an important center of wheat production and products derived from the Oliveira tree and cork.
The district capital is the city of Beja, also considered capital of Baixo Alentejo, where there are present the narrow streets and characteristics of the old town, the Tower of the Beja Castle, considered the highest in Portugal and in the Iberian Peninsula, the Church of Santo Amaro, the oldest temple of Beja and the Convent of São Francisco, that originated the Hostel of São Francisco. Nearby are located the ruins of the Roman Villa of Pisões.
The current urban plan of Beja, which had the name of Pax Julia, during the Roman occupation, has bases precisely becoming from the city, in the Roman occupation and in the doors of Évora and Mértola, that marks the ancient walls entries.
Beja, is also the city of Sóror Mariana Alcoforado, a religious of the Order of Santa Clara, from the Convent of Conceição de Beja, who lived between 1640 and 1723 in Beja, who is assigned the authorship of five letters to the Knight Chamilly, passed through the window of the convent and dated from the time that the french officer served in Portugal, where he arrived in 1665.
His work "Letters of a Portuguese Nun" was first published in Paris in 1669, by Claude Barbin, becoming a classic of the world literature.
The cuisine of the district, with Mediterranean influence, is one of the brands of the region, between them, it highlights the Migas spare Ribs, the Stew Pastor, the Beldroegas Soup or stewed beans.
There also are many fine foods produced in the district of Beja that affirmed over the years, including the Pork Meat of Alentejo, the Low Alentejo sausages, the ham of Barrancos, the Serpa cheese, the sausage meat of the Baixo Alentejo, the Beja Paio or the Lamb from the Low Alentejo.
Annually is organized in Beja, the Ovibeja, an economic activity fair in the South of Portugal, created in 1983, with a strong matrix based on the ancient culture of the Alentejo, being initially an agropecuary event. The Ovibeja, receives every year more than a thousand companies and organizations participating and is visited by more than 300 000 people.
The resident population in 2011 was 150 287 inhabitants.
