Tomar is charmingly situated just north of the lower Tagus on its tributary, the Nabao, in the fertile Ribatejo landscape of central Portugal, and is very popular with tourists on account of its mighty convent castle of the Knights of Christ.
Townscape
The little Rio Nabao divides this attractive small town into a west end and an east end, with the old center around the Praça da República west of the river and a lovely park on a sandbank in the river.
A winding road leads past the chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceiçao up to the castle of the Knights of Christ, above the west of the town.
The Order of the Knights of Christ was founded in the 14th C but the buildings at the complex date to between the 12th and 17th C. Among the many highlights is the Knights of Christ Church.
Eastward across the old bridge, the Ponte Velha, on the other side of the Rio Nabao, is the Capela de Santa Iria, with a fine Renaissance doorway (1536).
The Rue de Santa Iria leads south from Capela de Santa Iria to the Igreja de Santa Maria do Olival on the edge of town. This was long the seat of the Grand Chapter of the Templars and later the Knights of Christ, the mother church of all the Order's churches in the colonies. All that is left of the first church building (c. 1160) is the porch and doorway. The interior of the former Templar church is overwhelmingly Renaissance, and contains the tombs of many of the Order's Knights and Masters.
Address: Igreja de Santa Maria do Olival, Estrada de Marmelais de Baixo, , Portugal
The church of St John the Baptist stands in the center of Tomar on the Praça da República, where there is a statue of Gualdim Pais, the Templar Grand Master who founded Tomar in 1162. The church, which was built about 1490, has an elegant Manueline doorway and contains six pictures from the 16th C. Portuguese school.
Entrance to the Sao Joao Baptista church in Tomar.
In the former Convento de Sao Francisco (in the south of the old town, near the railroad station), is the Matchbox Museum. Some 43,000 matchboxes from more than 100 countries are on display.
Address: Matchbox Museum, Largo 5 de Outubro, Tomar , Portugal
Hours:
11am-5pm; Closed: Sat
Always closed on: New Year's Day (January 1), Anniversity of the Revolution - Portugal (April 25), May Day / Labor Day (May 1), National Day - Portugal (June 10), Assumption Day - Christian (August 15), Republic Day - Portugal (October 5), All Saints' Day - Christian (November 1), Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8), Independence Day - Portugal (December 1), Christmas - Christian (December 25), Good Friday - Christian, Corpus Christi - Christian
Disability Access: Full facilities for persons with disabilities.
In the northeast part of town, near the path up to the Knights of Christ Castle, is the 16th C. chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceiçao, a lovely Renaissance building with delicately carved Corinthian capitals.
The pilgrimage chapel of Nossa Senhora da Piedade is farther north from Nossa Senhora da Conceiçao, on a hill above the town. It can be reached on foot up a flight of 286 steps, flanked by gardens. Built in 1613, it has azuelejo decoration in the interior. On the way up we pass Sao Gregório, an octagonal chapel with a shingle roofed gallery all round it. Originally Manueline, it was later remodeled as Baroque.
Torres Novas is an industrial town 25km/15.5mi southwest of Tomar. The ruins of its 14th century castle, and its Misericórdia church, with a fine Renaissance doorway, are worth seeing.
Address: Torres Novas Tourist Office, Largo dos Combatentes, 4 e 5, P-2350-437 Torres Novas, Portugal
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Convento da Ordem de Cristo de Tomar
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Torres Novas, Portugal
Templar Church, Tomar
Igreja de Sao Joao Baptista, Tomar
Tomar
