Portugal Travel Guide
Tomar

The Convent of Christ, once the headquarters of the Knights Templar

Another little old Portuguese town with too much traffic and too little building control, Tomar is overlooked by this spacious and spectacular 12th century fortress/church, homebase to the Order of the Knights Templar for around 400 years.
Wearing white coats adorned with red crosses [now where have I seen that logo before?] the Order was originally composed of French knights determined to protect pilgrims visiting the Holy Land, but their Papal remit soon expanded to freeing Christian lands of Moorish invaders. In this regard they were successful, liberating the whole of Portugal by 1300 AD and reaping enormous rewards from grateful Christians and landowners.
In France the Knights soon encountered problems with greedy King Philip IV who arrested them, burned a few and grabbed all their property, dissolving the Order.
Things didn't go quite so drastically wrong in Portugal though Dom Dinis did dissolve the Order and use the Knight's wealth to help launch the Age of Discoveries. At least they weren't burnt at the stake...

Back to the present, the church part of the monastery [pictured above] has 16 sides with an altar in the central octagon, and knights supposedly used to enter on horseback. The church is decorated with exquisite 16th century wall paintings while some outside sections are fine examples of Manueline decoration, including the famous Chapterhouse nautical window.
See also Mafra monastery | Capela dos Ossos | Batalha abbey.

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Portugal Travel and Photos © Julian Loader