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Only in Portugal and Scotland, the Templars had not been subjected to persecution after the Order’s crash in France. In that historical moment, Portugal was so far from both France and the Pope that the Portuguese rulers pretended not to hear the angry appeal for the Order’s demolition. It was a wise decision.
The Knights Templar helped the young kingdom to consolidate and get rid of the Moors. In return, the Order not only managed to survive without losses, but also to get into their possession 30 percent of the territories taken from the Moors south of the Tejo River. A fabulous prize, but the knights guaranteed the King sovereignty of the lands as well as the stability of his crown.
The mysterious Order of Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon was just renamed the Order of Christ also called the Christ’s Knights Order.
The Convent of the Order of Christ. Tomar, Portugal.
This is the famous window in the Manueline style, the reproduction of which can be found in every architectural book devoted to the Portuguese late Gothic.
This is the main attraction of Tomar. People say that in the 19th century the Brits suggested writing off the whole debt of Portugal to Great Britain in exchange for this window. The window is still here, which means that the Portuguese rejected the proposal. You might ask, what is this window so famous for, what is so special about it, and why did England long to get it?
The window is more unusual rather than beautiful; moreover, it is huge, much bigger than I could imagine. Give your attention to these details: the waves of nautical ropes, marine plants, navigational instruments, the symbol of Christianity, and the Knights Templar’s Red Cross.
There is a legend that under the decoration of the Manueline window in Convento de Cristo in Tomar during the period from 1510 to 1513, a plan of Portuguese world domination was codified by the Templars and King Manuel I. Here is the answer to the question, why did the greatest marine empire need it? Sole dominion over the world was the ultimate goal of Great Britain always.
Convento de Cristo is a very interesting historic object surely included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. However, we did not notice any crowd of tourists here in January, and to tell you the truth I doubt there would be many of them in summer. Tomar is quite far from both Lisbon and Porto airports, and not so many travelers manage to get there.
The walls of the primary Templars’ fortress in Portugal look just as monumental now as they did in the 12th century. Had it not been for the construction of the Templars Grand Master’s residence, Tomar would never have become a city. In 1357, Tomar was announced the capital of the Order. Nowadays, those massive walls with the familiar loopholes are fractionally preserved, but there is not much left of the primary castle of the Knights Templar. It is either ruins or reconstructed buildings which became a part of the monastery.
Inside of the Round Church of the Convent of Christ in Tomar.
The unconventional Round Church Charola was under restoration, and we have not evaluated its magnificent decorations thoroughly, but believe me–it is very floridly decorated. We took just a few shots, having looked inside through the railings, but outside, it is possible to take as many photos as you like, including the famous Manueline window. As you might guess, this style was named in honor of King Manuel I during the reign of whom the residence of Templars was most actively decorated.
The present structure of the Convent of Christ in Tomar poses eight cloisters of the different epochs. Altogether, half of them were closed for reconstruction. We were there about three hours. Each king built something new here, and on the whole it worked out grandiosely.