MURALHAS DE ELVAS

The town still boasts the remains of a first Islamic wall built in the ^8th century and reinforced in the ^9th century (Porte du Temple), and a second Islamic wall built between the ^10th and ^11th centuries (Porte de Saint-Vincent). Outside, a fine example of ^17th-century Portuguese military architecture, built according to Vauban techniques, with fortified gates, bastions, curtain walls and moats. This powerful defensive system was completed by Fort Santa Luzia to the south and Fort Santa Graça to the north, both of which feature watchtowers.