Viana do Alentejo
Information
Viana do Castelo is a typical Alentejo region village, situated in between Évora and Beja, and has always had an important strategic defensive role.
With vestiges of ancient human occupation, Viana do Alentejo has several influences and heritages from Roman occupation period that were probably quite ruined during the Muslim occupation but some were able to survive over the centuries.
Its natural water sources helped throughout the centuries the fixation of population, in an area that lacks water, transforming the village’s surrounding fields in farms and orchards, and supplying the village’s picturesque streets with beautiful fountains.
There are several beautiful highlights in Viana do Alentejo worth to be known, such as the Castle and the beautiful Matriz Church (one of the most interesting Manueline churches in Portugal), the Nossa Senhora da Piedade Convent (16th century), the Misericórdia Church, the São Sebastião and São Vicente Chapels, what is left of the Jesus Convent (founded by several widow and single women in 1548), the São Vicente Church, in Alcáçovas, or even the famous Nossa Senhora D’Aires Sanctuary, located at about 2km from Viana.
Also quite famous is the region’s handicraft, specialized in clay products and the “chocalho” (“cow bell”), with a curious museum related to this art, in Alcáçovas.