A visit to a Portuguese historic Heritage Site

1. Tomar, Portugal
Town of the Knights Templar

2. 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.

3. 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.

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

6. The old town

7. 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.

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

9. The castle dominates old Tomar.

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

13. 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.
.

14. The main street, Corredoura

16. A few Art Deco façades decorate the south side

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

21. 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.

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

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

24. St. John the Baptist church.

25. 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.

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

28. The tower watch,
with sculpted frame
and painted face.

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

34. In the surrounding alleys

35. 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.

36. 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.

37. Cobblestone alleys,
plant-decorated doors

39. Vila Tomé, ca.
1900
An elegant
Belle Époque
mansion

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

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

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

47. 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.

50. Detail of Jean de
Rouen‘s Calvary

51. Out of town to World Heritage sites

52. The Templar heritage:
the Castle
and
the Christ Convent

53. 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.

55. This vast monument
illustrates seven centuries
of Portugal's History

57. 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.

58. 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.

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

61. Manueline gothic nave Templar round church

62. 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.

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

68. 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.

72. 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.

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

76. In the centre stands an
eerily gothic high altar,
like a temple within a
temple.
Restored wall paintings
date from the early 16th
century..

77. The pulpit
This is a small masterpiece of
religious art.
Sumptuously decorated,
dominated by magnificent
frescoes, it’s a Renaissance
jewel.

81. Outside again

82. A spiraled staircase leads to a terrace

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

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

86. 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.

97. Back to town

98. Tomar by night

99. ©Mário Ricca, 2012