Templar History Day Tour - From Lisbon

Learn about the first monarch, King Afonso Henriques, the land donations that were made to his order and which strategically put him at the forefront of the Christian reconquest.

The former seat of the Order of the Knights Templar, Tomar is a city of great charm with its artistic and cultural wealth, whose greatest expression is in the Convent of Christ, one of the chief works of the Portuguese Renaissance.

The Templar chapel was built in the 12th century, like the castle, which was at the time the Kingdom’s most up-to-date and advanced military set-up, inspired by the fortifications of the Holy Land, and kept intact to this day, which earned it World Heritage Site status.

Tomar is a region occupied by man for thousands of years, proven by remains found in the Nabão valley that go back to the Palaeolithic period. Buried underneath the city are the Roman cities of "Nabantia" and "Sellium". The region was conquered from the Moors in 1147 by King Afonso Henriques, and was then donated to the Templars in 1159.

Our tour will stop at the Convent of Christ in Tomar, belonging to the Knights Templar. Founded in 1162 by the Grand Master of the Templars, Dom Gualdim Pais, the Christ Convent still retains memories of these knights, monks, and the heirs of his office, the Order of Christ, which made this building its headquarters and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Next stop is the construction of Tomar Castle which began in 1160, by the Templars, as part of a line of defence against Muslim advances. This objective would be proven in 1190 with the attack from the forces of the Emir of Morocco, which showed that Tomar not only withstood the siege but they also inflicted many casualties leading to one of the doors of the castle being named Blood Gate.

Mourol Castle is our next stop. Situated on a small island that was already inhabited at the time of the Roman occupation of the peninsula, from the eighth century, it was also occupied by the Muslims, who had conquered the Visigoths. Within the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula, Almourol was conquered by D. Afonso Henriques, in 1129, and given to the Temple Order

Our last stop is Ourem, a Portuguese city in the district of Santarém, in the centre region. This is a thriving city, old yet modern, with large avenues. The historic Castle of Ourem, whose original foundations are hard to date, however, it is certainly very old because in 1178 there was talk of a castle with a triangular plant.

The castle of Ourem and the surrounding region will have passed to the Kingdom of Portugal in the reign of D. Afonso Henriques. The dates are not known or the circumstances of its making. Originally founded by the Moors, it was then named Abdegas, however, it is believed that this place has been inhabited since prehistoric times, passing by the Romans and Visigoths to the Muslim invasion which in turn gave rise to the primitive fortification Ourem.

Return time 7 pm