Castelo de Tomar

On the hilltop overlooking Tomar, the Castle of Tomar marks the beginning of the great Convent of Christ complex. The fortification began to be built in 1160, after the donation of the region to the Templars, and is linked to Gualdim Pais, master of the Order of the Temple. Its position protected a strategic point between the Tagus and Coimbra, then the capital of the kingdom. Even today, Romanesque military solutions associated with the Templars can be read in the walls, such as the sloping base that strengthened them, and the keep, rising above the citadel. In the lower enclosure stood the former fortified town; to the west was placed the Charola, the Templar oratory that would later become part of the Convent of Christ. Classified as a National Monument in 1910 and included in the ensemble inscribed by UNESCO in 1983, the castle preserves the defensive memory that shaped Tomar.