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INDEX:
TOMAR
History Legend of saint Iria (Irene) Templars (Knight Templars) MONASTERY OF CHRIST Castle
Monastery Church Entrance (Portal) Interior Cloisters Gothic cloister, Henry the navigator cloister or
cemetery cloister Cloister of Ablutions or washing cloister: Cloister of John III, of Philippe or Great cloister:
Ravens cloister Wadding cloister Saint Barbara cloister Window of the Chapter House Cloister of the
Hostellery AQUEDUCT TRAYS FESTIVAL ALMOUROL CASTLE
TOMAR Population: 15.000 inhabitants.
Industries: located a few miles from Tomar, near the river: paper mills (founded by M. of Pombal) and cotton mills.
Paper mills are 2 centuries old and marked the beginning of industrialization in Portugal.
History
Tomar is an Arab word meaning fresh water. The Arabs were here 400 years and that was the name given to the river
that flows through the town. The name of the river is now Nabão, a roman word because Romans were also here.
Legend of saint Iria (Irene)
Irene was a beautiful girl of the 17th century who decided to become a nun. Her parents entrusted her education to a
monk, Remigio. Britaldo, the son of Tomar governor fell in love with her. But the girl told him she could not marry him
because she wanted to be a nun and the man became ill.
In the meanwhile the monk in charge of her education started making her dishonest proposals. The girl refused his
proposals and in revenge Remigio made her drink a mixture that made her look pregnant.
When Britaldo saw her he thought he had been deceived and decided to take revenge too. One of his servants
stabbed Irene and threw her body to Tagus River. The body was carried to Scalabis where, by miracle, she appeared
inside a marble tomb. The name of Scalabis was changed to saint Irene (Santarem).
Templars (Knight Templars)
Associated with the reconquest from Arabs and maritime discoveries.
It was created in Jerusalem in 1118 by a knight, Hugues de Payns, to defend it and to protect the pilgrims that went
there (to the Holy Land). They were called "the Poor Knights of Christ" and followed the rules of the Augustinians.
Their first temple was a palace near the Royal Temple of Solomon (placed in the center of 3 religions: Christianity,
Islamism and Judaism), the Royal Temple (today el Aksa mosque). The Templars had the intention to unite the West
and the East. In 1128 the order is recognised and Saint Bernard wrote their rules, rules of chastity, poverty and
austerity (if a knight was found dead with money on his pocket he would be buried without any religious services). One
of the rules was that they were responsible only to the Pope, not to any political authority. Kings had no power over
them. The obligation of poverty applied only to personal property. They wore white with a red cross, which became a
symbol of aid to the suffering (still today). They gained a reputation for ferocity in battle. His motto was: "Do your duty
come what may". The first 300 volunteers were all dead in five years. After the first few years this initiative was no
longer held. They became bankers. They had a kind of international bank, which gave them a tremendous financial
power. They also had a strong real estate power. They built castles and often became friends with the Arabs, trading
with them. They became rich and unpopular. The spirit of sacrifice was succeeded by greediness. They controlled a
fourth of Paris. In Portugal, where they arrived in 1128, they had headquarters in Braga. They also had Soure
castle, Cera castle and then they built Tomar castle (Gualdim Pais, master of them, founded this cattle). Later, was
also given to them Pombal and Almourol castle. Lands were given to them by A. Henry in Beira Baixa. Alphonse Henry
also promised them a third of all the territory that could be conquered beyond the Tagus River. Alphonse II gave them
Castelo Branco castle. They helped in reconquering Portugal from the Arabs till they were extinguished in France in
1312.
They became very rich and very powerful. Philip the Fair of France (1285 - 1314) owed them lots of money. He
persecuted them and abolished them in 1310 (they were accused to make a pact with the devil getting to the Moslems
side, to the Arabs side. Some of them were burned to dead together with their leader, Morlay). 2 thirds of their fortune
went to the French crown and the rest to the order of Hospitallers, the first designation of Malta knights. In Portugal,
king Denis transformed them in the order of Christ, in 1321. Their headquarters were at Castro Marim, in the Algarve.
In 1338 the headquarters were transferred to Tomar. They helped in Aljubarrota battle. Henry, the navigator, was their
leader. Their treasure came from Paris to Portugal (to Tomar, they say) in secret and it was with that wealth that the
Portuguese trips were financed (that's what the legend tells). In 1523 John III transformed the Military Order of the
Knights of Christ into a religious order.
In 1834 they were suppressed.
MONASTERY OF CHRIST
Castle
Founded in 1160. At the same time, the first monastic constructions were made to house the first knights. Today it's
reduced to some irregular, erratic walls with some towers. We get inside through a rebuilt door and we can notice,
further to the right, the remains of the ancient "Alcaçova".
On the walls we still see symbols brought from the Middle East and magic symbols of the alchemists. Wherever the
Templars were they left the same symbols (like in Our Lady of Paris and St Mary of the Olive Grove). These symbols
were adopted again in the 18th century by the free-masonry and people say they were the continuation of the
Templars as a secret organization).
Inside the walls many constructions from different periods can be seen, erected by the Templars (Knight Templars),
and the Knights of the Order of Christ.
Prince Henry was one of the governors of this order as well as king Manuel (who restored the castle) as well as all the
kings after him.
Monastery
John III added parts to the church and founded the Monastery.
It started as a castle. Its ruins can still be seen today.
It is said to be the last stronghold of the Templars and it was here that they hid their tremendous treasure.
It is the biggest Monastery in Portugal. It is a museum of Portuguese architecture and sculpture from the 12th to the
17th century (the rise and fall of Portugal). It represents 5 centuries of the history of Portugal: we can see styles like
Romanesque Byzantine, gothic-flamboyant, manueline, renaissance, and barroque.
Church
This is one of the better, if not the best well-preserved, well-kept, temples of the Knight Templars. The others in
Navarra, Vera Cruz de Segovia and even in France are not so good. Even the temple in Jerusalem is now much
deformed. This church is a replica of Omar mosque in Jerusalem (we can see Syrian and Palestinian influences in the
paintings and gold groundwork.
The original part is from the 12th century.
Entrance (Portal)
Made by John Castillo who signed his work with a date: 1515 (right-hand side, bottom). It's more plateresque than
manueline (reminds Salamanca). The statues are perhaps not his work. Perhaps from his brother, Diogo or perhaps
from Chanterenne.
Interior
Octagonal chapel (it used to be a polygon with 16 sides, following a Byzantine plan from the 4th century). This rotunda
dates from 12th century. It's octagonal like all the constructions of the knight Templars, repeating the style of
Jerusalem. King Manuel had it painted but it still preserves the golden appearance common in Byzantine constructions.
To marry Isabel, king Manuel, then the administrator of the Order of Christ had to ask the permission from the Pope to
abolish the rule of celibacy for all the knights (and for him in particular). Before that, he had a meeting with the knights
here. And for that meeting he made some improvements in the church: he asked Juan de Castillo to make the big
chapel on the place where one of the 8 chapels of the deambulatory used to exist (with the traditional west orientation).
All around the rotunda are paintings from the 16th century (Christ's resurrection has 16th century Lisbon as
background; Lazare resurrection shows a man stopping, obstructing his nose), statues also from the 16th century (the
4 wooden statues inside the chapel are: Our Lady, St Jerome, St. Dominique and a Pieta (it's not really a Pieta says
Christine... it's a part of an altar piece and represents Our Lady and saint John). Chapel of the 12th century.
Upper choir: to big and to low.
On one side a pulpit imitated through a trompe d'oeil painting on the other.
There is a deambulatory which used to have chapels from where the knights heard mass on horseback before leaving
for the battle. Near this deambulatory we can see a curious object, similar to an organ pipe: it was used as a
loudspeaker.
Large cylinder for better acoustics (a loudspeaker).
Cloisters
As we leave the church we find a number of cloisters and corridors that may be confusing to the visitor.
Gothic cloister, Henry the navigator cloister or cemetery cloister: it dates from the 15th century and it was a cemetery
when it was constructed. It has mudejar (hispano-arab) tiles around the flowerbeds. 2 tombs of the 16th century: Diogo
da Gama (Grand Master of the Order, brother of Vasco da Gama) and B. Faria (he introduced the Inquisition in
Portugal). Small room housing a museum dedicated to the overseas colonies.
An opening gives on to the Cloister of Ablutions or washing cloister: the first cloister in Portugal to be built in two
superimposed galleries. It's in ruins. Its name comes from the six big bathing tubs where monks used to bath. The
lower gallery has roman stones on display. Cloister of John III, of Philippe or Great cloister: the most artistic one.
Built by Juan de Castillo, Diogo de Torralva and finished by Philippe Terzi. The cloister is renaissance but it dates from
the same period of the window. It is here that we can see the manueline window of the chapter house (it is not here, it's
in saint Barbara cloister, but probably we can see it from here).
The barroque fountain in the middle dates from the XVII th century and symbolizes the conclusion of the work of the
aqueduct built to supply Tomar with water.
The refectory is a vast hall from 1536. The corridor between the cells is interesting. It is in this cloister that we can
see the south façade of the church (are the buttresses said to be on each side of the window, actually here, on each
side of this manueline façade). It was here that Philippe II of Spain was crowned king of Portugal.
Other cloisters built by John III: of Saint Barbara, of the Hostellery, of Micha, of the Ravens, of the Necessities (near the
toilets).
Ravens cloister
The lower gallery connects with the storerooms and shops. The upper gallery connects with the library, dining room
and dormitories, bedrooms.
Wadding cloister
It served the kitchen, office and storerooms. There is a large cistern, well.
Saint Barbara cloister
In face of the famous window. That's why it's small to not disturb the beauty of it.
Window of the Chapter House: (ropes, figure of a sailor underneath, corals, palm-trees (which pilgrims could see in the
middle of the desert showing the place where water could be found), root of an oak-tree whose wood was used to
make boats, salt-pans, cork lifebuoys a dog and a cat (animals that went with sailors as mascots on the boats),
artichokes, armillary spheres, cross of Christ, salt-pans on the upper part, etc) built by Diogo de Arruda in 1510.
The window is like the symbol of the new world versus the old world (manueline versus renaissance. After influencing
Europe, Europe influenced Portugal). The symbol of Portugal that after creating an enormous empire was to succumb,
victim of its own effort (Phillip II of Spain was crowned king of Portugal here. Not exactly in this cloister but in John III
cloister): all this composition is on the shoulders of a single man (a Portuguese, a protagonist of all the effort of the
discoveries who didn't get any profits!) who looks like being crushed by the weight of the window.
The rose window of this window has also a symbol: a sail of a galleon. The window is flanked by two buttresses (here
or in the south facade of the church in John III cloister) representing the symbols of the order of Garther (with a
sculpted buckle) and of the Golden Fleece. We can see 3 buttresses, which end with a cross of Christ. The buttresses
in the angles, common to the south, north and west facades are the strongest ones. To disguise their thickness they
were overcharged with decoration. Right buttress (Golden Fleece): it is decorated with the symbol of the "Golden
Fleece" (Toison d'or) created by Phillip the Good of France when he married Isabel, daughter of John I. We can also
see it represents striped cork trees and an Indian dragon. Left buttress (order of Garter: created by Edward III of
England, grandfather of Felipa of Lancaster. John I was the first foreign king to receive this badge): It is represented
here by a strap and a buckle. The motto was: "Honni soit qui mal y pense" after a gossip in the court. It also has the
statues of Denis in armour, John II and king Manuel with a beard.
Cloister of the Hostellery
We can see here the characteristics of Juan de Castillo style.
AQUEDUCT
5 km long, 180 arches. Finishes in the cistern that supplies water to the fountain in John III cloister. Built during the
reign of the Phillips of Spain (1593 - 1614) and was made by Philippe Teri and Pedro Fernandes. One of the more
elegant aqueducts in Portugal.
TRAYS FESTIVAL
In the main square, in front of the Town Hall, takes place the final ceremony of the most famous festivity in Tomar.
Held every odd year, because in even years the government subsidy goes to Coimbra Festivities in honour of the Holy
Queen.
This festivities in Tomar take place on Whit Sunday (Pentecost, 6 weeks after Easter Sunday, the descent of the Holy
Ghost upon the Apostles) in homage to the Brotherhood of the Holy Ghost founded by queen saint Isabel at the same
time her husband king Denis founded the Order of Christ. It is basically a pre-harvest festival. It is a procession with
500 girls wearing white (symbol of virginity but no all of them are virgins, some are married, because it would be to
difficult to find so many virgins nowadays), carrying trays with blessed bread (and meat, wine, etc) topped by the cross
of Christ. The girls are escorted by men who only helped them at the end to lift the trays before blessing. They are
1.200 people included in the procession. Music bands go along. Three ox-carts take place in the procession carrying
bread, wine and meat.
ALMOUROL CASTLE
Built on an island of Tagus river, in front of Zezere confluence, on the place of a roman village. Built in 1171 for
Gualdim Pais and his knights.
There is a legend: one of the knights returning from his conquests, saw two Arab women, mother and daughter. He
asked them water to drink. One of them, shaking with fear, dropped her pitcher and it broke. The knight killed both of
them. Then appeared a little Arab boy, son and brother of the girls, and he was taken prisoner. He decided to take
revenge: to kill the wife and daughter of the knight. But he fell in love with the daughter and ran away with the girl. It is
said that in Saint John's night they both appear embracing each other, at the top of the castle, begging forgivingness
from the knight.
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