Elvas

A real military fortress inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the city of Elvas was conquered by Islamic troops in 714. It was conquered during the reign of the first Portuguese King in 1166, and was reconquered again by Islamic forces. It was eventually reconquered in the reign of King D. Sancho II, in 1229.

Since the Islamic era, Elvas had a significant Jewish community; living religious peace lived in Al-Andaluz, territory of the Iberian Peninsula under Islamic domination. The community was very large and there were two Jewish quarters, the Old (Praça da República and surrounding streets) and the New (to the West of the Alcáçova area), already under the Christian domination of the city. The fact that there was already an Old Jewish quarter in the 14th century demonstrates the antiquity of the communal organisation. According to the size of the community, there was a large synagogue, possibly where the Elvas Jewish History House is now.

The Jewish community of Elvas was one of the largest of Portugal in the Middle Ages. Maybe about a quarter of the population of Elvas was Jewish. This amount increased in 1492 when one of the tolls created by king D. João II to receive and tax the Castilian Jews stayed in this town.

The more than 1,100 cases Inquisition cases concerning the inhabitants of Elvas accused of Judaize more are an image of the weight of the Jewish community in the life and demographics of the city.