Elvas

Elvas is a Portuguese municipality, former episcopal city and frontier fortress of easternmost central Portugal, located in the district of <a href="/facts/Portalegre_(district)/qMqtgBsm">Portalegre</a> in <a href="/facts/Alentejo/73bIEXjD">Alentejo</a>. It is situated about 200 kilometres (120 mi) east of <a href="/facts/Lisbon/zFTcC99e">Lisbon</a>, and about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) west of the Spanish fortress of <a href="/facts/Badajoz/Dm9DRV2G">Badajoz</a>, by the <a href="/facts/Madrid/B63nL2DB">Madrid</a>-<a href="/facts/Badajoz/Dm9DRV2G">Badajoz</a>-<a href="/facts/Lisbon/zFTcC99e">Lisbon</a> 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 16,640 as of 2011.
Elvas is among the finest examples of intensive usage of the trace italienne (<a href="/facts/Star_fort/MoUL6X9S">star fort</a>) in military architecture, and has been a <a href="/facts/World_Heritage_Site/6AbWWKV4">World Heritage Site</a> since 30 June 2012. The inscribed site name is Garrison Border Town of Elvas and its Fortifications.

Elvas open-in-new

Elvas