Aljustrel (), officially Town of Aljustrel (), is a town and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the Portuguese

district of Beja A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

. The population in 2011 was 9,257, in an area of 458.47 km². The present mayor is Nelson Domingos Brito, elected by the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

. The municipal holiday is June 13.

History

Aljustrel from the East - George Landmann

During the Roman era, Aljustrel was known as ''Metallum Vispascense''. It was occupied by the

Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

but in 1235 the town was conquered from them by King D. Sancho II. The first

foral 200px, Foral of Castro Verde - Portugal The ''Carta de Foral'', or simply ''Foral'', was a royal document in Portugal and its former empire, whose purpose was to establish a ''concelho'' (Council) and regulate its administration, borders and priv ...

(''charter'') was only conceded by King Sancho in 1252. A new foral was issued on 20 September 1510, by King D.

Manuel I Manuel I may refer to: *Manuel I Komnenos Manuel I Komnenos (; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized as Comnenus, also called Porphyrogenitus (; " born in the purple"), was a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned ov ...

. On 28 January 2013, the civil parishes of Aljustrel and Rio dos Minhos were aggregated into one local authority called Aljustrel (Decree 11-A/2013, Diário da República, Série 1, 19).

Geography

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 4

civil parishes In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishe ...

: * Aljustrel e Rio de Moinhos * Ervidel * Messejana * São João de Negrilhos

International relations

Aljustrel is twinned with: *

Hem A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...

, in the

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

, France

Notable People

Notable people from Aljustrel include: *

Manuel de Brito Camacho Manuel de Brito Camacho (12 February 1862, Aljustrel — 19 September 1934, Lisbon) a Portuguese people, Portuguese military officer, writer, publicist and politician, who among other positions, was Minister of Public Works, Commerce and Indust ...

(1862—1934) a military officer, writer, publicist and politician; High Commissioner to

Portuguese Mozambique Portuguese Mozambique () or Portuguese East Africa () were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese overseas province. Portuguese Mozambique originally constituted a str ...

, 1921-1923 *

António Lobo de Almada Negreiros António Lobo de Almada Negreiros (13 August 1868 in Alentejo, Aljustrel, Aljustrel – 12 June 1939 in Paris) was an illustrious journalist and colonialist writer, essayist and poet. He lived in São Tomé Island, in Portuguese São Tomé and P ...

(1868–1939) a journalist and

colonialist Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

writer, essayist and poet; he lived in

São Tomé Island São Tomé Island, at , is the largest island of São Tomé and Príncipe and is home in May 2018 to about 193,380 or 96% of the nation's population. The island is divided into six districts of São Tomé and Príncipe, districts. It is located ...

Fernanda Peleja Patrício Fernanda Peleja Patrício (19292000) was a Portuguese communist who opposed the country's '' Estado Novo'' regime. After the overthrow of the ''Estado Novo'', she served on the Constituent Assembly of Portugal and in the first legislature of the ...

(19292000). Portuguese communist who opposed the '' Estado Novo'' regime, president of the Aljustrel council, 1986–1989. *

João Rebelo João Rebelo (born 20 March 1961 in Aljustrel) is a Portuguese former sport shooter who competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were a ...

(born 1961) a former sport shooter who competed in each Summer Olympics from 1984 to 2000 * Jorge Soares (born 1971) a Portuguese retired footballer with 396 club caps

Architecture

Civic

* Cinema/Theatre of Aljustrel () * Fountain of Alonso Gomes () * Mines of Aljustrel () * Mines of São João do Deserto () * Municipal Palace/Hall of Messejana () * Museum of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia () * Pillory of Messejana () * Residence of the Majorat Moreiras ()

Military

* Castle of Aljustrel () *

Castle of Messejana The Castle of Messejana () is a Portuguese medieval castle in civil parish of Messejana, in the municipality of Aljustrel, in the district of Beja. History Although the region was inhabited prior to the Reconquista, it was sacked in 1235 by forc ...

()

Religious

* Chapel of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia () * Chapel of São Pedro () * Church of Nossa Senhora da Assunção () * Church of Nossa Senhora do Castelo () * Church of Nossa Senhora do Rosário () * Church of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia of Messejana () * Church of the Santissimo Salvador () * Church of São João () * Church of São Julião () * Hermitage of Santa Margarida () * Stations of the Cross of Messejana ()

References

Populated places in Beja District Municipalities of Beja District {{Beja-geo-stub