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Templar Order in Portugal

theperfecttourist — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 22:57:44 +0000

The Templar Knights were created in 1118 in Jerusalem by nine French knights, to protect the pilgrims who traveled to holy places conquered in the Holy Land during the Crusades. Legend has it that the first riders settled in the ancient Temple of Solomon, where they found documents and treasures that made them powerful. It is said they had the guardianship of the Holy Grail, the cup which collected the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross and that had already been used at the Last Supper. In the 14th century took place the dissolution of the Order by the persecutions of Philip, King of France, and the Templars took refuge in Portugal. Under the auspices of D,Diniz, who founded the Order of Christ – based in the Convent of Tomar – and inherited the assets of the Portuguese Templars that played a central role in the Portuguese Discoveries.

Church of Santa Maria do Olival in Tomar

theperfecttourist — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 18:29:42 +0000

The church of Santa Maria dos Olivais which was built in the mid 1300s for the Grand Masters of the Knights Templar Order. Santa Maria dos Olivais was built on the place of a seventh century temple and was chosen, during the Portuguese Discoveries, as the mother church of all the churches of Africa, Asia and the Americas.

The Church of Santa Maria do Olival is a Roman Catholic church in the city of Tomar.

The church was built in the second half of the 12th century by the provincial master of the Order of the Knights Templar in Portugal, Gualdim Pais. It was used as a burial place for the Knights Templar of Tomar and, later, by the Knights of the Order of Christ, which succeeded the Templars in the 14th century. Gualdim Pais is buried in the church and his original tomb slab, dated from 1195 bearing a gothic inscription, is still preserved inside.

The current building is mostly the result of a reconstruction carried out in the 13th century in early Gothic style. The main façade has a beautiful rose window and a simple portal with several archivolts, and is flanked by a free-standing bell tower. The interior is very simple. The church has three naves covered by a wooden roof, and the columns of the pointed arches of the naves are devoid of capitals. The main chapel of the apse is covered by a Gothic ribbed vault. The tracery of the small rose window in the Eastern wall of the nave has the shape of apentagram.

In the 16th century the church was restored and several chapels were added to the Southern side. Notable are the polychromed statue of the Virgin Mary and Child (early 16th century) in the main altar and the funerary monument of Diogo Pinheiro the first Bishop of Funchal, a fine Renaissance work dated from 1525, located on the wall of the main chapel.

Tomar, Convent of Christ

theperfecttourist — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 17:50:53 +0000

The Convent of Christ in Tomar is a combination of a castle and a convent, used by the Knights Templar.

In 1160 the building of the castle was started. The land (like many more around Southern Europe) was given by the Portuguese king to the Order of the Knights Templar, in return for their support against the Moors.

The convent was added later, as an extension to the castle. The Templar Order was dissolved in 1312 but their property in Portugal was transferred to the Order of Christ which was created in 1319. This new military order would undertake an important role in Portuguese overseas expansion in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Charola #1 Picture

Charola #2 Picture

Its octagonal church, called the Charola, is modeled on the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Eight tall, delicate pillars separate the central chapel from the outer aisle that encircles it. This unusual shape for a church was designed so that the knights could attend Mass on horseback – one of the many unique privileges this order enjoyed. Sharp-eyed visitors can still see the red cross of the Templars in the painted decoration of one of its pillars.