Elvas, a Worthy World Heritage Town Without the Crowds

Imagine a historic small town, where you can stroll at your own pace along narrow cobbled streets! Imagine not being pushed along by hurrying tourists, looking for the ultimate selfie shot. Imagine a town where you might have to search for a souvenir shop, but where you will discover something worthwhile seeing around every other corner. Welcome to Elvas, a worthy World Heritage Listed Town without the crowds, located in the east of Alentejo, Portugal!

Elvas is a worthy World Heritage destination in the east of Portugal. Its impressive fortifications are the largest in the world. And Elvas is not crowded!

History of Elvas as a Garrison Border Town

The World Heritage listed Elvas has been a border town with Spain for most of its existence. When I hear “border town” it quickly evokes a mental picture of a slightly grubby place, full of somewhat shady characters, chaotic traffic, and cheap discount shops – a transient place of no real attraction except for some bargain merchandise. We found nothing of that in Elvas! Its World Heritage status was earned exactly for its exposed position on the border and the main trade route, from Madrid to Lisbon.

As a border town, Elvas has long been fortified. A Celtic settlement was recorded here first, followed by the Romans. For them, Elvas was an important post along their major trading routes. Thus, the oldest remnants of the town date back to Roman times. After the decline of the Roman Empire, the Visigoths took over, only to be expelled in the 8^th century by the Moors. Finally, in the 13^th century, Elvas was recognised as part of the Kingdom of Portugal, and received city rights in the 16^th century.

An aerial photo, shows the bulwarked dry-ditch fortifications surrounding the old city of Elvas nicely. In the far background you can the Nossa Senhora da Graça Fort on the next hill. [photo credit ]

The largest Bulwarked Dry-Ditch Fortification in the World

Each empire enlarged the city’s boundaries with more fortifications, making Elvas the largest fortified city of Europe today! These outstanding fortifications are the main focus of the UNESCO World Heritage listing.

The site, extensively fortified from the 17th to 19th centuries, represents the largest bulwarked dry-ditch system in the world. Within its walls, the town contains barracks and other military buildings as well as churches and monasteries.
from “Garrison Border Town of Elvas and its Fortifications” WHC Listing

Today, only the highest section of the fortified town centre, where the small castle stands, dates back to Moorish times. It was the Portuguese who established today’s ramparts and out-lying forts. Within its town walls, the city has preserved a typical layout of narrow medieval streets, with many of the historic buildings preserved. Walking along the cobbled side streets can feel like stepping back in time.

Even though it’s an impressive city to visit, Elvas doesn’t seem to be overrun by tourists. This might very well be due to its fairly remote border location. The downside of this is that it can be a challenge to get to see all its sights within a day or two.

The main plaza of Elvas, Praça da Republica, seen from the entrance of the former cathedral. In the background the former townhall, now home of the tourist information. The Sunday flea market doesn’t attract many buyers.

We found that many churches, which were of interest to us, were closed. Upon enquiry at the tourist information, we were told that they are opened by volunteers – thus nobody knew if or when they would really open. We revisited a couple in the afternoon when they would ‘surely’ be open – only to find locked doors.

The second challenge to a successful visit is “typical Portugal”: although the Portuguese don’t have a long siesta like the Spaniards, they take their lunch break very seriously. Everywhere in Portugal we found that almost all major sights close for a lunch break – usually up to 2 hours, starting at either 12:30 or 1pm. Also, the out-lying forts, which are an important part of the fortifications of Elvas, are closed every Monday (like most museums).

Don’t let this discourage you from visiting Elvas. We were there in late April, which is pretty much an off-season period. We would expect more to be open during the peak summer holiday period. Anyway, there’s enough to see despite some locked doors!

Our choice guidebook [instead of the popular Lonely Planet ] for people who are looking for valuable information about Portugal: the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Portugal [new 2019 edition] ! This book is for travellers who are more interested in the sights than recommendations for restaurants or hotels.

Find this guidebook on Amazon.

 

Places to See in Elvas

I will mention the places to see in the order we visited these sights. Because we entered the town early in the morning, we decided to tackle it from the top downwards – because we didn’t want to climb too much in the warmer afternoon.

The enormous Amoreira Aqueduct, whose construction began in the 15^th century, was inspired by Roman designs. It supplied water to the city, well into the 19^th century. Today, the aqueduct is still a very impressive sight. We were fortunate to be able to stay in our motorhome right next to it.

Part of the long Amoreira Aqueduct in Elvas, photographed at sunrise (me! early riser.).

We roughly followed the aqueduct uphill until we reached the drawbridge, which we crossed to get though the Corner Gates inside the fortified walls. Careful, these gateways are narrow and curved (hence their name) with cars passing through quite frequently, and fairly fast!

You enter the upper section of Elvas through these corner gates. Photo taken through the arch of the outer gate towards the decorated inner gate.

Next, you will walk past the Chapel of Our Lady of Conception and a small powder magazine on the left (we missed both because we didn’t have a map of Elvas’ sights at the time). Directly next are the old Trem Barracks on the left, now a high school.

When we visited, the road and some buildings were under renovation, so at the former Pontoon Storage Warehouse we turned left to follow the wall. From there you get an excellent view of the Conde de Lippe Fort, commonly referred to as the Nossa Senhora da Graça Fort. All forts around Elvas are closed on Mondays, the day we had planned to leave, so this was the closest we came to it.

This is as close as we got to the Nossa Senhora da Graça Fort. Viewed from Elvas’ castle hill. The next day, Monday, it was closed and we wanted to move on.

Finally, you will reach the small Elvas Castle on the top of the hill. It’s not much of a castle compared with so many others we have seen, so we almost overlooked it (and due to the messy roadworks didn’t take many photos either). Here is another good vantage point to photograph the Conde de Lippe Fort on the next hill, and the town’s fortifications and barracks in the other direction.

The best view of the Elvas castle we photographed. All roads around it were torn up for roadworks. Notice the hideous mobile phone tower next to it; it has earned Elvas harsh criticism from the UNESCO World Heritage Council.

Then we zig-zagged towards the Church of Our Lady of Consolation, often named Church of the Dominicas. We knew from our guidebook that it is decorated inside with beautifully detailed Portuguese Azulejos tiles. Unfortunately, the doors were locked (and remained so; Yasha checked again in the afternoon). I found a Spanish blog post with a few reasonably good photos of the inside – to give you an idea what we were looking for.

The small plaza next to this church can be entered under the Arch of Dr. Santa Clara, a small room built across two lanes. The triangular plaza is dominated by the Pillory of Elvas, a rather nicely crafted post with a haunting past (it is a flogging post).

A narrow road leads through the Arch of Dr. Santa Clara. Behind it you can see a little of the church of Our Lady of Consolation.

The Pillory in Elvas stands in a triangular space between the Church Our Lady of Consolation and the Arch of Dr. Santa Clara.

From there it’s not far down the steep, narrow, cobbled road to reach the Church of Our Lady of Assumption, which was once Elvas’ cathedral. It overlooks the Praça da Republica, the main square of the old town. Here you will find some lovely outdoor restaurants, the Tourist Information (in the old townhall), and one rather ugly new bank building… We were greeted by a Sunday flea market, which was a bit too quiet for good business.

The Praça da Republica, Elvas’ main square. Behind the “Love Elvas” sign you can see stalls of a Sunday flea market, with the former cathedral in the background.

After some refreshments, we walked further downhill to get to the old barracks and the Monastery of St. Domingos – unfortunately also closed on this Sunday. Along the way we passed the enormous Fountain of Saint Lawrence. It’s an impressive structure, covering the end walls of two adjoining houses. I have no idea when it was first built, only that it underwent a major refurbishment in 2005 (as a plaque said).

Inside the church of Our Lady of Assumption, Elvas’ former cathedral.

The Fonte de São Lourenço in Elvas. On the right, down the street, you can see the church of São Lourenço (Saint Lawrence).

Part of the barracks behind the monastery has been converted into a Military Museum – fittingly for a town whose history is so strongly connected with Portugal’s defences. We went there for the excellent vistas from the top of the fortifications, towards the south of the old town.

From the monastery we walked east, again coming up to thick fortifications, because we wanted to try our luck at the Church of St.Peter and the Church of the 3^rd Order of St.Francisco. Needless to say, both were also locked. But this brought us almost up to the castle again. :-( Did I mention we didn’t wanted to climb much in the afternoon?

This photo shows the width of the fortifications well. And of course all the tourists crowding the streets of Elvas ;) On top of the hill you can see the old castle (with a hideous mobile antenna right next to it).

So we walked past the Pillory back to the main square and then turned west, towards the main entry into the fortified old town of Elvas. We didn’t have much energy left for sight-seeing, but took a couple of photos along the way. One of the Torre Fernandina, a medieval tower that is all that’s left of the second town wall, which enclosed a much smaller part of Elvas.

Before we walked out of the fortified town, I was attracted by the Fountain of Mercy. I found out later that this intricate little structure dates from the early 17^th century. Quite lovely how it sits in a minuscule little park! We didn’t even think of trying to enter any other churches – to avoid further disappointment. But the next morning we visited an interesting, or should I say ‘a little obscure’, church on the outskirts of Evora.

The medieval tower, Torre Fernandina on the left, is all that remains of the second oldest town fortifications of Elvas.

Near one of the entry roads into Elvas stands this marble Fountain of Mercy. In the background the Church of our Lady of Pains.

Tip: if you like your religious buildings just a little ‘unusual’

If you have a car (or bicycle) it’s easy to get to the Santuário do Senhor Jesus da Piedade (Lord of Mercy). It’s on a street with the same name. Even on foot, it’s not far from the main section of the Amoreira Aqueduct; my guess would be 15 to 20 minutes, heading west.

This beautiful small baroque church was built by a local man, who was seriously injured, and didn’t have the strength to return home. He collapsed at the foot of a cross, which previously occupied the place of the church, and prayed for a miracle. Apparently he was lucky: somehow he made it home, recovered, and fulfilled his vow to build a church in place of the cross.

Nowadays, this sanctuary is still known for its power to deliver miracles. Once a year, in September, it’s the centre of one of the most important pilgrimages in Portugal. But devotees come here daily. Many leave signs of their desperation or gratitude, from framed photos with prayers to countless body parts! Well, not real body parts, but rather plastic replica limbs. Three small side chapels of the Church of the Lord of Mercy are filled to overflowing with these rather obscure objects. Photography is forbidden and (as soon as I realised) I respected this request; so I really only have the one photo taken from the entrance…

The baroque facade of the Santuário do Senhor Jesus da Piedade (Lord of Mercy).

The Sanctuary of the ‘Lord of Mercy’ was built in the 18th century after a miracle was reported in its location. This is one of the side rooms displaying devotional gifts.

 Location of Elvas

Elvas is on the eastern border of the Alentejo region in Portugal, a little over 210 kilometres [130 miles] by road from Lisbon. In this part of the country you will find a number of worthwhile attractions in a small circle of less than 50 kilometres [30 miles]. They certainly justify the longer trip to visit here, perhaps by driving yourself.

If you are coming from Lisbon there are more sights along the way, for example, you can stop in Évora, another UNESCO World Heritage city. Or if you are coming from the Extremadura province in Spain, the city of Badajoz is only 20 kilometres from Elvas. It’s a bit over 80 kilometres [50 miles] from the outstanding Roman ruins of Mérida in Spain (another quiet World Heritage town of less than 60,000 inhabitants).

The narrow cobbled roads in the oldest part of town, on the hill near the castle – too narrow for any cars.

The best road map for any roadtrip in Spain and/or Portugal:
the Marco Polo Map Spain & Portugal
This is likely the most accurate paper map you can find for the Iberian Peninsular.

Order the Marco Polo Map on Amazon.

 

Why You Should Visit Elvas

Elvas is a nice, quiet UNESCO World Heritage town, with an interesting past. We found it refreshing to be able to walk around its narrow streets without having to keep in step with tourists crowds, like you find in so many popular destinations nowadays. Sometimes I think World Heritage listings can be a mixture of a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, they ensure that places are being preserved and, on the other, they seem to attract more tourists.

If you are not overly obsessed with visiting the inside of every old church, you will find many very interesting and beautiful sights in Elvas. It is apparent that Elvas takes good care of its historic structures, despite the few ‘new building sins’ we occasionally noticed. If you include the delightful sights nearby, like Vila Viçosa (a tentative UNESCO site) and Estremoz [ < see our post], Elvas is certainly worth the trip for at least a long weekend. Or you could include more of the smaller towns or villages and make Alentejo a destination for your next vacation. It deserves it! I’m sure you will find it more relaxing than the more popular (and populated) places everybody visits, or talks and writes about.

Our choice guidebook [instead of the popular Lonely Planet ] for people who are looking for valuable information about Portugal: the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Portugal [new 2019 edition] ! This book is for travellers who are more interested in the sights than recommendations for restaurants or hotels.

Find this guidebook on Amazon.

 

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