Elvas, Portalegre, Portugal Genealogy

This is a historical and genealogical guide to the municipality of Elvas.

History

 * Elvas is a municipality, in the district of Portalegre in Alentejo.
 * In the 15th century the city was completed in 1622.
 * In 1166 it was wrested from the Moors by Afonso I of Portugal and temporarily recaptured before its final occupation by the Portuguese in 1266.
 * In 1570 it became and episcopal see, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Elvas, until 1818.
 * Elvas was the site of the Battle of the Lines of Elvas in 1659.
 * In March of 1808 during the Peninsular War, the Napoleonic French took Elvas, but evacuated it in August of 1808 after the conclusion of the Convention of Sintra.
 * Elvas has 7 civil parishes.
 * The population of Elvas is roughly 23,100 people.

Online Records
After 100 years, all civil registration records are sent to the municipality's district office.

To view online civil registration records, visit Portalegre Civil Registration.

Contact a Civil Registration Office
The following is a list of civil registration offices within the municipality.

Conservatória do Registo Civil de Elvas Pç. D. Sancho II Pal Justiça 7350-127 Elvas PORTUGAL Phone: 268637670 Fax: 268637679 Email: [mailto:crc.elvas@dgrn.mj.pt crc.elvas@dgrn.mj.pt]

Communicate your request in Portuguese whenever possible. For writing a letter or email in Portuguese, use the translated questions and phrases in this Portuguese Letter-writing Guide.

Online Records
In 1910, the Portuguese government transferred all birth, marriage, and death records from all the country's parishes to the district offices. These records are now in either District or National archives. Many of these records have been digitized and can be viewed at the District Archive's website or on FamilySearch.

To view online records, visit Portalegre Church Records.

Contact a Parish
If you are seeking church records created more recently than 1910, it is possible to obtain them by writing to the parish where the record was created. Writing to a parish is not always a reliable way to obtain information, because officials may or may not respond.

Conferência Episcopal Portuguesa lists websites for the 20 Dioceses of Portugal. Once on the Diocesan website, use the listing of parishes (paróquias) to locate contact information for the parish in question.

Communicate your request in Portuguese whenever possible. For writing a letter or email in Portuguese, use the translated questions and phrases in this Portuguese Letter-writing Guide.

Cemeteries
Cemeteries did not become popular in Portugal until the late nineteenth century. Prior to this, individuals were buried in their parish church cemetery, and their bones were later removed to an unmarked burial place.

FamilySearch Centers
Badajoz Spain Family History Center C/ Botánico Vicente Cervantes, Edificio Eurodom BADAJOZ BADAJOZ 06011 PORTUGAL Phone: 34 924-245-517 Email: [mailto:ES_Badajoz@familyhistorymail.org ES_Badajoz@familyhistorymail.org] Website: Badajoz Spain Family History Center