Frontier fortress of Portugal

Once again returning to beautiful Portugal, and for the many more trips to come hopefully in the near future. The plan for this weekend was something more off the beaten path than the usual big cities. Instead, two smaller towns yet full of history: Elvas, the easternmost city near the Guadiana River which is the natural border between Portugal and Spain, a city sometimes referred as “the fortress of Portugal” due to the large amount of fortresses and bastions; and the city of Evora, famous for being home to some of the finest and most complete Roman monuments in the country. Ans considering that less than 10 kilometres ahead of Elvas, already across in Spain is the city of Badajoz, we left the possibility, if time permitting, to come and visit, which… of course it did happened.

Reaching both cities was not an easy and direct task. Unfortunately the nearest airport is Lisbon, 230 kilometres west from Elvas, that’s a long drive to consider. However, this is all along the motorway that continues after Portugal towards Madrid. This translates is less than 2 hours from west to east which is acceptable. Evora is nearer to Lisbon, at around 180 km. The same you can do by driving, you can take the train as both cities lie along the major rail link between Lisbon and Madrid, so don’t worry if you do not drive, you can still perfectly do both cities in a weekend.

Because of the large amount of immaculate fortifications in the italienne trace (star fort) style, most of which still complete, the city was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO under the listing of: Garrison Border Town of Elvas and its Fortifications. Such extensive fortifications were built from the 17th to the 19th centuries becoming the largest bulwarked dry ditch system in the world. There is of course much more than this, as the impressive 15th century 6 kilometres long aqueduct, its Gothic cathedral and the many remains and influences from the Moors in the city’s urban fabric. (more…)