Tomar, Stronghold of the Knights Templar

Where Crusader Knights Built Their Greatest Fortress and Changed the Course of History

Wonders of Tomar

Of all the extraordinary places in Portugal, Tomar may be the most charged with historical mystery and ambition. Founded by the Knights Templar in the 12th century as their headquarters in Portugal, it was here that Grand Master Gualdim Pais built his great castle and the circular church modelled on the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. When the Templars were dissolved across Europe, the Portuguese order was reconstituted as the Order of Christ - and from Tomar they financed and directed the Age of Discovery. The UNESCO Convent of Christ stands as the supreme monument to their extraordinary legacy.

The Convent of Christ

Rising above Tomar on its wooded hill, the Convento de Cristo is one of the most architecturally complex and historically significant buildings in Portugal - a UNESCO World Heritage Site that spans seven centuries of construction, from the first Templar keep of the 12th century to the great cloisters of the 16th century. It is a building of extraordinary layered richness: Romanesque fortifications, a Gothic chapter house, Renaissance cloisters of classical purity, and Manueline decoration of breathtaking elaboration. As the seat of the Order of Christ, it was here that the great voyages of discovery were planned and funded - making it, in a sense, the birthplace of the modern world.

The Templar Charola

At the heart of the Convent of Christ stands the building that makes Tomar unique: the Charola, the original 12th-century circular Templar church, modelled on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The Knights Templar built it so that they could celebrate Mass on horseback without dismounting - a military practicality that resulted in one of the most extraordinary religious spaces in Europe. The interior, richly decorated with 16th-century Manueline painting and gilded woodwork, creates an almost hallucinatory effect of colour and pattern within the ancient circular form. To stand at its centre is to feel the weight of nine centuries of crusading faith pressing down from the stone vault above.

The Templar Castle

Surrounding and protecting the Charola, the great castle of Tomar was built by the Knights Templar in the 12th century as the military and spiritual headquarters of the order in Portugal. Its massive curtain walls enclose a large area of woodland on the hilltop, within which the successive buildings of the convent were added over centuries. The cylindrical towers, the gate towers, and the circuit of walls that strides across the hilltop are among the best-preserved examples of Templar military architecture in the world - a physical embodiment of the order's twin vocation as monks and warriors in the service of the Holy Land.

The Pegões Aqueduct

Striding across the valley north of Tomar on 180 arches in two tiers, the Aqueduto dos Pegões is one of the most impressive Renaissance engineering works in Portugal. Built between 1593 and 1619 to supply the ever-growing Convent of Christ with fresh water from springs 6 kilometres away, it runs for nearly six kilometres through the landscape with a confidence and elegance that speaks of a moment when Portugal still commanded the resources of a global empire. Walking beside its arches - some reaching 30 metres in height - gives a vivid sense of the ambition and capability of the Order of Christ at the height of its wealth and power.

Your Tomar Experience Includes

Private door-to-door transport from Porto in a luxury Mercedes
Professional bilingual guide with specialist knowledge of Templar and Portuguese history
Full guided visit to the Convent of Christ, Charola, castle walls, and aqueduct
Option to explore Tomar's charming riverside town centre
Local restaurant recommendations for authentic Ribatejo cuisine
Return journey to Porto at your preferred time

The extraordinary Manueline window of the Convent of Christ in Tomar

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