Beja, Beja, Portugal Genealogy

This is a historical and genealogical guide to the municipality of Beja.

History

 * Beja had an important place in antiquity, inhabited in Celtic times, and later named Pax Julia in 48 BCE by Julius Caesar.
 * The reign of emperor Augustus changed the town to Pax Augusta.
 * Taken over by the Visigoths the town was called Paca, and became the seat of a bishopric.
 * In 713 the town fell to Umayyad army.
 * Paca through Arabic Baja became Beja.
 * In 1031 Beja became a Taifa, an independent Muslim-ruled principality. In 1150 it was captured by the Almohads.
 * In 1162 it was retaken by the army of the Portuguese king Afonso I.
 * Beja was recaptured and stayed under muslim rule until 1234.
 * In 1421 Beja was occupied by the Portuguese and the Spanish.
 * In 1770 Beja again became the head of a bishopric.
 * The population of Beja is roughly 35,900 people.

Online Records
After 100 years, all civil registration records are sent to the municipality's district office.

To view online civil registration records, visit Beja Civil Registration.

Contact a Civil Registration Office
The following is a list of civil registration offices within the municipality.

Conservatória do Registo Civil de [MUNICIPALITY NAME] address phone number [mailto:email email address]

Conservatória do Registo Civil de [MUNICIPALITY NAME] address phone number [mailto:email email address]

Communicate your request in Portuguese whenever possible. For writing a letter or email in Portuguese, use the translated questions and phrases in this Portuguese Letter-writing Guide.

Online Records
In 1910, the Portuguese government transferred all birth, marriage, and death records from all the country's parishes to the district offices. These records are now in either District or National archives. Many of these records have been digitized and can be viewed at the District Archive's website or on FamilySearch.

To view online records, visit Beja Church Records.

Contact a Parish
If you are seeking church records created more recently than 1910, it is possible to obtain them by writing to the parish where the record was created. Writing to a parish is not always a reliable way to obtain information, because officials may or may not respond.

Conferência Episcopal Portuguesa lists websites for the 20 Dioceses of Portugal. Once on the Diocesan website, use the listing of parishes (paróquias) to locate contact information for the parish in question.

Communicate your request in Portuguese whenever possible. For writing a letter or email in Portuguese, use the translated questions and phrases in this Portuguese Letter-writing Guide.

Cemeteries
Cemeteries did not become popular in Portugal until the late nineteenth century. Prior to this, individuals were buried their parish church, and their bones were later removed to an unmarked burial place. The following list may be helpful in twentieth-century research.

Name of Cemetery Website Address Phone number [mailto:email email address]

Name of Cemetery Website Address Phone number [mailto:email email address]

Family History Centers
Name of nearest center Website/page on FS wiki Address Phone number [mailto:email email address]