City of Tomar and the Templars

Tomar, also known in English as Thomar, watered by Nabão river, belongs to the district of Santarém in the province of Ribatejo, with a total area of 351 km2 and a population of about 43.000 inhabitants, was conquered in 1147 to the Moors by D. Afonso Henriques, the first King of Portugal, and after that it was granted to the Templars as a feud, in 1159. The Foro or feudal contract was granted by D. Gualdim Pais, Great-Master of the Order of the Temple.

With the extinction of this Order in 1312 by the Pope João XII, who wanted the Templars banned throughout Europe, a new Order was founded, the Military Order of Christ. Due the need of defending the border of Algarve, this order was moved to the south of Portugal to Castro Marim in 1319; 37 years later it returned to Tomar to settled down at the Castle of Tomar.
This way, Tomar became de center of the epic Discovery of the New World and Africa. Infante D. Henrique, was made Governer of the Order by the Pope and stayed also in the Castle. The Order of Christ, as all the religious Orders, was extinguished in 1834.

Tomar became a city in 1844 and was visited by Queen D. Maria II on the next year.

Nowadays Tomar is known by its fantastic monuments, specially the Convent of Christ with its Charola, the Castle of Templars and the monumental Chapter Window.

However, there is a lot more to discover. Find it here and then, visit Tomar...