CONVENT OF CHRIST

June 2013

Please note

For the people of Tomar's gallery click on The Nabantinos
For the architecture of the city's gallery click on Templar City
For the historic buildings' gallery click on Churches and Chapels

As history recounts, in 1159, the Knights Templar, after playing a crucial role in Portugal's independence from the Moors, were rewarded with extensive land and political power. The following year, on this land, Dom Gualdim Pais, Master of the Order of the Temple, as a strategic location, started the construction of a castle that became the headquarters of the Order in Portugal.
Soon after, inside its walls, a romanesque round church (Charola) was built that at first glance reminds you more of a fortified citadel. The interior of the church is decorated with late gothic/manueline sculptures, frescos and gold. It has a central, octagonal structure connected by arches to a surrounding gallery with a variety of paintings.
With the passing of the years new additions were built. The most important is the one ordered by Prince Henry the Navigator. A rebuilding of the nave introduced a mix of styles, of late gothic and renaissance, that would be called Manueline Style by art historians. From the outside the nave is covered by many Manueline motifs, of which the most important is the Window of the Chapter House (Janela do Capítulo).
The convent has a total of eight cloisters, built between the 15th and 16th centuries. Some of the most important ones are the: Claustro da Lavagem (Washing Cloister), a two storey gothic cloister where the monks used to wash their clothes; Claustro do Cemitério (Cloister of Cemetery) also of gothic style, used for the burial of the monks of the Order; Claustro da Hospedaria (Hospital Cloister); Claustro dos Corvos ( Ravens Cloister) and Claustro de D. João III (Cloister of John III), a magnificent two story cloister that connected the monks' dormitory to the Charola, considered to be one of the most important examples of Mannerist architecture in Portugal.
In 1593 King Philip of Portugal commissioned the construction of the Aqueduct of Pegões (6 km long and formed of 180 arches) which supplied water to the Convent of Christ.

Today the Convent of Christ is on the list of the Unesco World Heritage and is one of the premier places to visit in Portugal.

© 2014 Gaetano Antonini