Fort Santa Luzia is the southern counterpart to the Forte da Graça, built in the seventeenth century to cover the approaches from the Spanish frontier. It is smaller and earlier than the Graça fort, and the interior now houses the Military Museum of Elvas, with a small but well-presented collection of weapons, uniforms and siege equipment from the long Spanish-Portuguese wars.
A covered passageway — the Caminho Coberto — once connected the fort directly to the town walls so soldiers could be reinforced under cover during a siege. Sections of it are still visible. The walk from the centre of Elvas takes about twenty minutes and is mostly downhill on the way out.