Garrison Border Town of Elvas and its Fortifications
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How it came to be
Elvas is a border town in the Alentejo in eastern Portugal, on a hill about 8 km from the Spanish fortress of Badajoz. It has remains going back to the 10th century; Afonso I of Portugal took it from the Moors in 1166, it was briefly recaptured, and it passed finally to Portugal in 1226. It became an episcopal see in 1570.
Its fortification began after Portugal regained independence in 1640, during the Portuguese Restoration War. The works were designed by the Dutch Jesuit João Piscásio Cosmander, and UNESCO calls them the best surviving example of the Dutch school of fortification. Built up from the 17th to the 19th century, they form the largest bulwarked dry-ditch system in the world, enclosing barracks and other military buildings as well as churches and monasteries.
To help the stronghold withstand long sieges, the Amoreira Aqueduct brought water into the town and was inaugurated in 1622. It reaches 40 metres in height, with four tiers of arches in places. Elvas withstood Spanish sieges in 1659, 1711 and 1801, and was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 2012.
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