Elvas Fortifications

Elvas Fortifications

A whole city in a star

Near Portugal's eastern border with Spain stands the town of Elvas, and it is protected by one of the most extraordinary sets of defences on earth: the largest bulwarked, or star-shaped, fortification system in the world. Seen from above, the town is wrapped in great zig-zagging walls with pointed bastions jutting out like the rays of a star, surrounded by ditches and outlying forts on the nearby hills. It is a masterpiece of military engineering, protected by UNESCO.

Built to guard a frontier

Elvas sits only a few kilometres from the Spanish city of Badajoz, right on a frontier that was fought over for centuries. The town's huge defences were built mainly in the 1600s and 1700s, during and after the long War of the Restoration, when Portugal fought to win and keep its independence from Spain after sixty years of Spanish rule.

In the age of cannon, tall medieval walls were useless, so engineers designed low, thick, angled walls that could absorb cannonballs, with star-shaped bastions allowing the defenders to fire along every wall and catch attackers in a deadly crossfire. Elvas was turned into one of the strongest fortress-towns in Europe, a great shield guarding the road to Lisbon.

Forts on the hills

The defences of Elvas are not just the town walls. On the heights around the town stand mighty separate forts, built to stop an enemy from placing cannon on the high ground. The grandest are the Fort of Graça, perched dramatically on a hilltop, and the older Fort of Santa Luzia. Together with the town walls, these forts formed a complete system designed to make Elvas almost impossible to capture.

The defences proved their worth: in battles and sieges, including during the Peninsular War against Napoleon's armies, Elvas held firm and helped protect Portugal.

The great aqueduct

A fortress town under siege needs water, and Elvas solved this problem in spectacular style. Stretching for several kilometres across the valley to the town is the Amoreira Aqueduct, a colossal structure of arches piled in places several rows high, built over many years to carry fresh water into Elvas. It is one of the largest aqueducts on the Iberian Peninsula, and it marches across the landscape like a Roman wonder reborn.

A peaceful border town

Once the wars between Portugal and Spain finally ended, Elvas settled into peaceful life, and today the border with Spain is an open and friendly one. The mighty defences, no longer needed for war, have become the town's pride and a magnet for visitors fascinated by military history.

Visiting today

Visitors can walk the great star-shaped walls, explore the hilltop forts of Graça and Santa Luzia, and marvel at the towering arches of the Amoreira Aqueduct striding toward the town. Within the walls, Elvas is a charming Alentejo town of white houses and tiled churches. The largest star fort in the world, fed by a giant aqueduct, Elvas is one of the most impressive feats of fortress-building anywhere on earth.