Historic Places Part Three, March 15, 2023

Today we are heading for the quaint little town of Tomar to check out its Castle of Knights Templar and Convent of Christ and then onto Batalha to see its great Monastery of Santa Maria.  It was a beautiful sunny day that hit 24c.  

Tomar was founded in 1157 by Gualdim Pais, the first Grand Master of the Order of the Templars of Portugal and sits along the Nabao River.  

Today you can drive but we took the traditional route, a steep 10 minute walk up cobbled steps that leads to the entrance of the Castle of the Knights Templar built in the 12th century. 

Looking back at the entrance from the main courtyard of the Castle.

The Knights Templar were a rich organization and were considered Europe's first great bankers.  People deposited their money with the Templars and were given a "check" (safer that cash to travel with) and could make withdrawals along their pilgrimage at they ventured East.  If they died, which was common, the Templars kept their estate.  The Templars managed about a thousand forts to aid Christian pilgrims stretching from Portugal to Jerusalem.  The order was dissolved in the early 1300's in Europe, but in Portugal they just changed their name to the Order of Christ and carried on until 1834 when the Portuguese king dissolved all religious orders.   

The Convent of Christ,  modeled after the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, was founded in 1160 and is currently undergoing a major sandblasting of its exterior and was totally covered in scaffolding and tarps.  So we only took pictures of the interior, which was amazing.

The original 12th century Templar church, the Charola, sometimes called the Rotunda was built in the shape of a 16 sided drum and designed so horses could be ridden in by knights and blessed before heading off to the Crusades.

The Great Cloister was completed in 1566 and built in Italian style

                    While I was checking out photo angles, Rita found a spot to catch some rays.

After walking back down from the Castle we stopped for a coffee in the main square before heading off to Batalha.













 


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