Messejana is a Portuguese parish in the municipality of

Aljustrel Aljustrel () is a town and a municipality in the Portuguese district of Beja. 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. The municipal holiday is Jun ...

, in the Portuguese district of Beja. It has an area of 113.77 km² and in the 2021 census had 811 inhabitants.

History

The name originated from the Arabic word ''masjana'', which means prison. The date of the town's foundation is unknown. Retaken from the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...

by Dom Sancho II in 1235, it received the status of municipality from

Dom Dinis Denis (, ; 9 October 1261 – 7 January 1325 in Santarém), called the Farmer King (''Rei Lavrador'') and the Poet King (''Rei Poeta''), was King of Portugal. The eldest son of Afonso III of Portugal by his second wife, Beatrice of Castile, an ...

but this status was nullified on 24 October 1855. Dom Dinis restored his castle in 1288 and donated the town to the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword. Messejana received a foral or town charter from D. Manuel I on 1 July 1512. Dom João III donated the town to Dom João da Silva. He was succeeded by his grandson Dom Lourenço da Silva, who built the convent for Franciscan friars and the Church of Misericórdia between 1566 and 1570. Dom Lourenço da Silva died with five brothers in northern

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

in 1578, in the Battle of Alcácer Quibir, described as Portugal's greatest military disaster. At one time Messejana had 11 churches: currently there are only four, some having been damaged by the

1755 Lisbon Earthquake The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with ...

Points of interest

* Casa na Rua da Igreja n.º 4, Messejana *

Castle of Messejana The Castle of Messejana ( pt, Castelo de 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 ...

* Igreja da Misericórdia de Messejana * Pelourinho de Messejana * Horta do Anjinho

Notable residents

* Francisco Colaço do Rosário (1935 - 2008), engineer and oenologist credited with doing much to promote wine production in the

Alentejo Alentejo ( , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond () the Tagus river" (''Tejo''). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo and Baixo Alent ...

. * Maria Nobre Franco (1938 - 2015). Art gallery owner and art collector

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Messejana Freguesias of Aljustrel Populated places in Beja District