Tomar and the Convent of Christ

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Convent Of Christ In Tomar (1983) The Templars' Castle And Rotunda, Later Seat Of The Order Of Christ · Tomar, Santarem

Tomar is a quiet riverside town on the Nabao, about 140 km north-east of Lisbon, overlooked by one of the most remarkable monuments in Portugal. The Knights Templar built a castle on the hill from 1160 under their master Gualdim Pais, and inside it the Charola, a round church of the twelfth century later painted and gilded from floor to dome. When the Templars were suppressed, the king created the Order of Christ, which took over their lands and made Tomar its seat; under Prince Henry the Navigator the Order's money is said to have helped pay for the early voyages of the Discoveries. Kings kept building, so the Convent of Christ is now a sequence of eight cloisters, dormitories and chapels, with the famous Manueline window of the chapter house carved with ropes, coral and sea creatures. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983. The town below is pleasant, flat and uncrowded. The honest caveat: this is a half-day to a day for history lovers, not a lively resort, and the convent is big, cold in winter and full of stairs.

Convento de Cristo on the castle hill above Tomar, on the river Nabao, about 140 km north-east of Lisbon, Tomar, Santarem, Portugal

The Convent of Christ opens every day except some public holidays in the usual pattern - roughly 9:00 to early evening in summer and to about 17:30 in winter, last entry around 30 minutes before closing; some listings show a Monday closure, so confirm before you travel. CP trains run from Lisbon (Santa Apolonia and Oriente) to Tomar in about 2 hours, some with a change at Entroncamento - confirm times. No booking is needed outside festival years; book rooms far ahead for the Festa dos Tabuleiros.

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