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ELVAS

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 301 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ELVAS , an episcopal See also:

city and frontier fortress of See also:Portugal, in the See also:district of See also:Portalegre and formerly included in the See also:province of See also:Alemtejo; 170 M. E. of See also:Lisbon, and lo m. W. of the See also:Spanish fortress of See also:Badajoz, by the See also:Madrid-Badajoz-Lisbon railway. Pop. (1900) 13,981. Elvas is finely situated on a See also:hill 5 M. N.W. of the See also:river See also:Guadiana. It is defended by seven bastions and the two forts of See also:Santa Luzia and Nossa Senhora da Graca. Its See also:late See also:Gothic See also:cathedral, which has also many traces of Moorish See also:influence in its See also:architecture, See also:dates from the reign of See also:Emmanuel I. (1495–1521). A See also:fine See also:aqueduct, 4 M. See also:long, supplies the city with pure See also:water; it was begun See also:early in the 15th See also:century and completed in 1622. For some distance it includes four tiers of super-imposed See also:arches, with a See also:total height of 120 ft.

The surrounding lowlands are very fertile, and Elvas is celebrated for its excellent See also:

olives and plums, the last-named being exported, either fresh or dried, in large quantities. See also:Brandy is distilled and pottery manufactured in the city. The fortress of Campo Maior, 10 m. N.E., is famous for its See also:siege by the See also:French and See also:relief by the See also:British under See also:Marshal See also:Beresford in 1811—an exploit commemorated in a ballad by See also:Sir See also:Walter See also:Scott. Elvas is the See also:Roman Alpesa or Helvas, the Moorish Balesh, the Spanish Yelves. It was wrested from the See also:Moors by See also:Alphonso VIII. of See also:Castile in 1166; but was temporarily recaptured before its final occupation by the Portuguese in 1226. In 1570 it became an episcopal see. From 1642 until See also:modern times it was the See also:chief frontier fortress S. of the See also:Tagus; and it twice withstood sieges by the Spanish, in 1658 and 1711.

End of Article: ELVAS

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