Nossa Senhora Da Graça Fort
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The Nossa Senhora da Graça Fort, officially Conde de Lippe Fort and known historically as La Lippe, is a
fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...
in the village of Alcáçova, about north of the town of
Elvas Elvas (), officially the City of Elvas (), is a Portuguese municipality, former episcopal city and frontier fortress of easternmost central Portugal, located in the district of Portalegre in Alentejo. It is situated about east of Lisbon, and ab ...
in the
Portalegre District Portalegre District ( ) is located in the east of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Portalegre. As of 2021, it is the least populous district of Portugal. It borders Spain. Municipalities The district is composed of 15 municipalit ...
of
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
. It stands in a dominant position on the ''Monte da Graça'' (Hill of Grace) and forms part of the Garrison Border Town of Elvas and its Fortifications, which on 30June 2012 was classified as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
. In 2014, the fort became part of a new project under the aegis of the Portuguese Ministry of National Defence, with the support of ''Turismo de Portugal'' (Portuguese Tourism), which features historical itineraries based on Portuguese heroes.


History

The strategic importance of the fort was demonstrated during the
Portuguese Restoration War The Restoration War (), historically known as the Acclamation War (''Guerra da Aclamação''), was the war between Portugal and Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon in 1668, bringing a forma ...
, when in 1658 Spanish troops occupied the site during the siege of the town of Elvas prior to the
Battle of the Lines of Elvas The Battle of the Lines of Elvas (), was fought on 14 January 1659, in Elvas, between Portugal and Spain during the Portuguese Restoration War. It ended in a decisive Portuguese victory. Background By 1659, the Portuguese Restoration War which ...
on 14January 1659. A century later, during the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
(1756-1763) King
Joseph I of Portugal '' Dom'' Joseph I (; 6 June 1714 – 24 February 1777), known as the Reformer (Portuguese: ''o Reformador''), was King of Portugal from 31 July 1750 until his death in 1777. Among other activities, Joseph was devoted to hunting and the opera. ...
and the Marquis of Pombal called on Marshal
Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. ...
to reorganise the Portuguese army and draw up plans for the modernisation of the stronghold. He drew a nearly identical copy of his home fortress Wilhelmstein, which he built in 1761. The work began in 1763 and continued into the reign of
Maria I of Portugal '' Dona'' Maria I (Maria Francisca Isabel Josefa Antónia Gertrudes Rita Joana; 17 December 1734 – 20 March 1816) also known as Maria the Pious in Portugal and Maria the Mad in Brazil, was Queen of Portugal from 24 February 1777 until her de ...
(r. 1777–1816), with the fort reopening in 1792 under the name of Conde de Lippe Fort after its designer. The fort resisted Spanish troops during the 1801 War of the Oranges and a later attack in 1811 during the
Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...
by the troops of Marshall
Jean-de-Dieu Soult Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman. He was a Marshal of the Empire during the Napoleonic Wars, and served three times as President of the Council of ...
. In September 1808, when the Spanish General Galluzzo heard of the signing of the Convention of Cintra, under which the defeated French were allowed to evacuate their troops from Portugal, he refused to acknowledge it. Instead he proceeded to carry out "a trifling bombardment of La Lippe from an immense distance, and the utmost damage sustained or likely to be sustained by that fortress, was the knocking away the cornices and chimneys of the governor's house, every other part being protected by bomb proofs of the finest masonry." The French commander of the La Lippes's garrison, Captain Girod de Novillars, held out against the Spanish until late November when the 1,200 French troops inside marched out following the arrival of the British. Subsequently used as a military prison, by 2014 the site was in a near ruinous condition and awaited transfer to the Municipality of Elvas for restoration. The necessary work on the infrastructure was completed in September 2015 with the aim of turning the fort into a functional museum.


Description

The fort is a quadrangle with pentagonal
bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...
s at the corners. Four
ravelin A ravelin is a triangular fortification or detached outwork, located in front of the innerworks of a fortress (the curtain walls and bastions). Originally called a ''demi-lune'', after the ''lunette'', the ravelin is placed outside a castle a ...
s cover the curtain wall, half of which form part of the monumental gate (Dragon Gate). The central part of the square features a circular
redoubt A redoubt (historically redout) is a Fortification, fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on Earthworks (engineering), earthworks, although some are constructed of ston ...
with two floors and a parapet with gun ports. The fort's circular tower has two vaulted floors: the first consisting of a decorated chapel and the second the Governor's House. Below the chapel, carved into the rock, there is a
cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...
. Externally, the structure is completed by a
hornwork A hornwork is an element of the Italian bastion system of fortification. Its face is flanked with a pair of half-bastions. It is distinguished from a crownwork, because crownworks contain full bastions at their centers. They are both outwork ...
and a wide dry
moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...
. A 19th century visitor described the fort thus: Although many 18th and 19th century military commentators considered the fort impregnable, French General Dumouriez noted that because many of its batteries were set into the rock, they were vulnerable to cannonade fire while he considered the hornwork carried "the defences too great a distance".


Gallery

Image:Elvas, Portugal May 05, 2018 09-59-18.jpeg, Front Gate Image:Elvas, Portugal May 05, 2018 09-17-47.jpeg, View from the Governors House Image:Elvas, Portugal May 05, 2018 09-13-01.jpeg, Looking into the Chapel from above Image:Elvas, Portugal May 05, 2018 09-21-29.jpeg, Living quarters with view of Elvas Image:Elvas, Portugal May 05, 2018 09-06-12.jpeg, Fort wall Image:Elvas, Portugal May 05, 2018 09-48-26.jpeg, Watchtower Image:Elvas, Portugal May 05, 2018 09-50-22.jpeg, Within the fort walls Image:Elvas, Portugal May 05, 2018 09-49-42.jpeg, Governors House Image:Elvas, Portugal May 05, 2018 09-46-32.jpeg, Living quarters Image:Capilla del Fuerte de Nuestra Señora de Gracia en Elvas, Portugal.jpg, Interior of the Chapel


References


External links


Video of Forte da Graca/Fort La Lippe

Plan of the fort
at the
Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nossa Senhora da Graca Fort Buildings and structures in Elvas World Heritage Sites in Portugal Tourist attractions in Portalegre District National monuments in Portalegre District