Beja the old Pax-Julia was an economic, military and administrative center of extreme importance in the process of Roman colonization of the Iberian Peninsula.

The important center of a rich and vast region was surrounded by a powerful belt of walls that still maintain its original foundations.

The Porta de Avis lasted until the 19th century. Successive assaults and invasions destroyed practically all of the city's fortifications before the reign of D. Afonso III.

The Porta de Avis was flanked by two imposing bastions and had the Nossa Senhora da Guia hermitage under its tunnel. Demolished in 1893 under the pretext that it made traffic difficult, its stones were transported to the city market where they were used to sell fish. In 1939 it was rebuilt, restoring its original form.