Elvas

Elvas rises on a hill near the Guadiana and the frontier with Castile, its defenses protecting the road between Lisbon and Badajoz. The Portuguese secured the town in 1226, and its cathedral later became the seat of a bishopric in 1570. The Amoreira aqueduct, begun in the fifteenth century and completed in 1622, carried water to the city on tiers of great arches. During the war to restore Portuguese independence, Elvas became a principal fortress south of the Tagus. In 1659 its garrison and inhabitants endured a Spanish siege until a relieving army defeated the besiegers at the battle of the Lines of Elvas. Bastions and outlying forts remained central to the defense of the frontier in later wars.