Elvas

For other uses, see Elvas (disambiguation).

Elvas
Municipality
Flag Coat of arms
Coordinates:
Country	Portugal
Region	Alentejo
Subregion	Alto Alentejo
Intermunic. comm.	Alto Alentejo
District	Portalegre
Parishes	7
Government
• President	José Almeida (PS)
Area
• Total	631.29 km2 (243.74 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	23,078
• Density	37/km2 (95/sq mi)
Time zone	WET/WEST (UTC+0/+1)
Website	http://www.cm-elvas.pt

Elvas (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɛɫvɐʃ]) is a Portuguese municipality, an episcopal city and frontier fortress of Portugal, located in the district of Portalegre in Alentejo. It is situated about 230 kilometres (140 mi) east of Lisbon, and about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) west of the Spanish fortress of Badajoz, by the Madrid-Badajoz-Lisbon railway. The municipality population as of 2011 was 23,078, in an area of 631.29 square kilometres (243.74 sq mi). The city itself had a population of 15,155 as of 2001.

Elvas is among the finest examples of intensive usage of the trace italienne (star fort) in military architecture, and has been a World Heritage Site since 30 June 2012. The inscribed site name is Garrison Border Town of Elvas and its Fortifications.

History

Elvas lies on a hill 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) northwest of the Guadiana river. It is defended by seven bastions and the two forts of Santa Luzia and Nossa Senhora da Graça. Its late Gothic cathedral, which has also many traces of Moorish influence in its architecture, dates from the reign of Manuel I of Portugal (1495–1521). A 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) long aqueduct supplies the city with pure water; it was begun early in the 15th century and completed in 1622. For some distance it includes four tiers of superimposed arches, with a total height of 40 metres (130 ft). The surrounding lowlands are very fertile, and Elvas is known for its olives and plums, the last-named being exported, either fresh or dried, in large quantities. Brandy is distilled and pottery manufactured in the city. The fortress of Campo Maior, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the northeast, is known for its Napoleonic era siege by the French and relief by the British under Marshal Beresford in 1811, an exploit commemorated in a ballad by Sir Walter Scott.

It was wrested from the Moors by Afonso I of Portugal in 1166 but was temporarily recaptured before its final occupation by the Portuguese in 1226. In 1570 it became an episcopal see. From 1642 until modern times it was the chief frontier fortress south of the Tagus; and it withstood sieges by the Spanish, in 1658, 1711 and 1801. The French under Marshal Junot took it in March 1808 during the Peninsular War, but evacuated it in August, after the conclusion of the Convention of Sintra.

Country sight showing cork oaks together with the remains of a cut wheat field in the foreground and vineyards and olive trees in the background.

Parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 7 civil parishes (freguesias):

• Assunção, Ajuda, Salvador e Santo Ildefonso
• Barbacena e Vila Fernando
• Caia, São Pedro e Alcáçova
• Santa Eulália
• São Brás e São Lourenço
• São Vicente e Ventosa
• Terrugem e Vila Boim

Sister cities

• Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain
• Olivenza, Extremadura, Spain

Gallery

• 

  Entrance of the Municipal Library of Elvas

• 

  A pillory in the city of Elvas

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  Elvas Station

• 

  Typical features

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  Elvas castle

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  City walls

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  Elvas castle

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  Elvas aqueduct

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  Cathedral interior

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  Square of Santa Clara

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: