Tomar, Portugal Town of the Knights Templar

Tomar (some spell it “Thomar”) is a town in the centre of Portugal, on the banks of the Nabão river.Population: around 40 000

It is a historic town, founded by the knights Templar, in 1162, over a roman settlement (Sellis) that had also been occupied by the Moors.

Situated on a fertile plane of many pines, oaks and olive trees, in a region of historic castles and great battles, Tomar has been rewarded with UNESCO’s recognition of its Heritage.

The town centre lays between the river and the hill where the Templar knights built the castle and their Monastery.

The old town

An old stone bridge (Ponte Velha) from roman times, some 2000 years old, leads into the old town. It has been several times submitted to repair and improvement.

On the left, the old river mills (15th cent.) .

The castle dominates old Tomar.

The river Nabão is part of the town’s beauty.

A water wheel from 1976 still decorates the river’s bank – the Mouchão Wheel. Made of pine and oak wood, it was built to help with irrigation. .

The main street, Corredoura

A few Art Deco façades decorate the south side

On the north side, two blue-tile pannels (azulejos) decorate a ground floor façade.

This azulejo pannel represents a famous window of the Templar’s Christ Convent: the manueline window, an exhuberant gothic style inspired in the portuguese overseas discoveries.

It will be shown in this presentation later on.

As any portuguese small town, Tomar has its central café: the Café Paraíso (Paradise)

Now we arrive to the main square in the old town: Republic Square

St. John the Baptist church.

The manueline gothic portal of the church is the main feature in the square.

On sunny days, you can seat watching it at a local Café’s terrace.

The characteristic church’s octogonal bell tower in limestone, with a pyramid shaped roof, displays several small decorative elements.

The tower watch, with sculpted frame and painted face.

Inside, the pulpit in carved limestone is a masterpiece of manueline style.v

In the surrounding alleys

Tomar had a jewish borough, and a sinagogue still exists with a small museum.

Along the old Judiaria street several houses like this one are a testimony of that.

The jewish comunity arrived during the 14th cent. and grew to a large population in the 15th cent., with considerable importance in the Portuguese discoveries affair.

Cobblestone alleys, plant-decorated doors

Vila Tomé, ca. 1900

An elegant Belle Époquemansion

Nearby, the old chapel of St. Gregory (16th cent.), of octogonal plant, surrounded by a porch sustained by tuscan columns .

The chapel’s main doorway: again, manueline styled stone frame

Church and convent of St. Iria(16th cent.)

Inside the church, a small side chapel has an excellent altarpiece sculpture from Jean de Rouen, a french architect who worked in Portugal since 1518.

Detail of Jean de Rouen‘s Calvary

Out of town to World Heritage sites

The Templar heritage:the Castle and the Christ Convent

In I983, UNESCO classified the Templar Castle and the Convent of the Knights of Christ in Tomar, as a unique monument in the history of the western world, and a world heritage site.

This vast monument illustrates seven centuries of Portugal's History

During the second half of the 12th century, the Knights Templar were called to Portugal, where they helped in the Reconquest. Their first and principal fortress was Tomar.

The original church was built at the end of the 12th century, around 1160, by the first great Master of the Templars, Gualdim Pais.

It was based on a polygonal ground plan including an octagonal choir with ambulatory: this is one of the typical 'rotondas' of Templar architecture of which a few examples still exist in Europe.

The Templar round church (late 12th century) is indicated in red, while the manueline nave (early 16th century) is in blue.

Manueline gothic nave Templar round church

In the 14th century, the Order of the Knights Templar was abolished and replaced by the Order of Christ, which supported Portugal's maritime discoveries of the 15th century. Tomar remained an important site with Henry the Navigator (Dom Henrique), Grand Master of the order between 1417 and 1460.

The great doorway of the church nave, in manueline gothic carved limestone.

The Cloister of the cemetery, built to the north-east of the rotonda around 1430 by Dom Henrique, employing pointed arches of an elegant Gothic style, sustained by twin columns.

The octogonal ambulatory (Charola)

The church was worked out by Gualdim Pais as a 16-sided ambulatory after Jerusalem temples that the Knights Templar took as a model.From outside, it looks more like a strong fortress, but the interior is otherworldly in its vast heights - an awesome combination of simple forms and rich embellishment. The decoration is from later 15-16th cent., under Manueline and Spanish Filipine rule.

A central space with eight angles and an involving polygonal nave of 16 sides.

In the centre stands an eerily gothic high altar, like a temple within a temple.

Restored wall paintings date from the early 16th century..

The pulpit

This is a small masterpiece of religious art.

Sumptuously decorated, dominated by magnificent frescoes, it’s a Renaissance jewel.

Outside again

A spiraled staircase leads to a terrace

And then... the famous manueline window of the Convent.

A prodigious decor combines Gothic reminiscences and Moorish influences, offering the most accomplished expression of the Manueline decorative style.

The Aqueduct of Pegões

In 1581, after a succession crisis, the Portuguese nobility gathered in the Convent of Christ in Tomar and officially recognised Philip II of Spain (Philip I of Portugal) as King.

Between 1581 and 1640 the kingdoms of Portugal and Spain were united. The aqueduct of the Convent was built during the Spanish rule.

Back to town

Tomar by night

©Mário Ricca, 2012