Convent of the Order of Christ

[Emmanuelle Catron]

Convent of the Order of Christ

The Convent of the Order of Christ (Portuguese: Convento de Cristo), in Tomar, Portugal, was originally a Templar stronghold built in the 12th century. After the Order of the Knights Templar was dissolved in the 14th century, the Portuguese branch of the order was turned into the Knights of the Order of Christ, which supported Portugal's maritime discoveries of the 15th century.

The Convent of Christ of Tomar is one of Portugal's most important historical and artistic monuments and has been in the World Heritage list of UNESCO since 1983.

[Emmanuelle Catron]

Convent of Christ in Tomar*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Convento Cristo Decemebr 2008-8.jpg
Round Church of the Convent of Christ
State Party     Portugal
Type    Cultural
Criteria    i, vi
Reference    265
Region**    Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription    1983  (7th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
** Region as classified by UNESCO.

[Emmanuelle Catron]

Templar stronghold

The castle of the Knights Templar of Tomar was built by Gualdim Pais, provincial Master of the Order of the Temple, around 1160. Later in that century, the castle was chosen as the headquarters of the order in Portugal. The castle of Tomar was part of the defence system created by the Templars to secure the border of the young Christian Kingdom against the Moors, which at the time (mid-12th century) corresponded approximately to the Tagus river.

The famous round church (rotunda) of the castle of Tomar was also built in the second half of the 12th century. The church, like some other templar churches throughout Europe, was modelled after the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, which was believed by the crusaders to be a remnant of the Temple of Solomon. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem may also have served as model.

According to Christian chroniclers, the castle of Tomar resisted in 1190 the attacks of caliph Abu Yusuf al-Mansur, who had previously taken other Portuguese strongholds to the South. A plaque near the entrance of the castle church remembers the feat.

[Emmanuelle Catron]

Panorama: Castle of Tomar with the Convent of Christ inside. The citadel with the keep is seen in the centre of the image and the round church (with a bell-tower) is to the right.

[Emmanuelle Catron]

Seat of the Order of Christ

The Templar order was suppressed throughout most of Europe in 1312, but in Portugal its members, assets, and partly its vocation were transmitted to the Order of Christ, created in 1319 by King Dinis. The Order of Christ moved to Tomar in 1357, which became its headquarters.

One of the most important Grand Masters of the Order was Prince Henry the Navigator, who ruled the order from 1417 up to his death in 1460. Prince Henry gave great impulse to the pioneering Portuguese expeditions during the Age of Exploration. In the Convent, Prince Henry ordered the construction of various cloisters and other buildings. He also sponsored urban improvements in the town of Tomar itself.

[Emmanuelle Catron]

Another important personality related to the Order was King Manuel I, who became Master of the Order in 1484 and King of Portugal in 1492. Under his reign there were several important improvements in the Convent, specially the addition of a new nave to the round church and its inner decoration with paintings and sculptures.

The successor of Manuel I, King John III, demilitarised the order, turning it into a more religious order with a rule based on that of Bernard of Clairvaux. He also ordered the construction of a new cloister in 1557, which is one of the best examples of Renaissance architecture in Portugal.

In 1581, after a succession crisis, the Portuguese Nobility gathered in the Convent of Christ in Tomar and officially recognised Philip II of Spain (Philip I of Portugal) as King. This is the beginning of the Iberian Union (1581-1640), during which the Kingdoms of Portugal and Spain were united. The aqueduct of the Convent was built during the Spanish reign.

[Emmanuelle Catron]

Floorplan of the church of the Convent of Christ. The Templar round church (late 12th century) is indicated in red, while the manueline nave (early 16th century) is in blue.

[Emmanuelle Catron]

Manueline entrance of the Convent church.

[Emmanuelle Catron]

Art and architecture

The castle and Convent of Christ have examples of Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline and Renaissance architectural styles.

[Emmanuelle Catron]

Castle and walls

The castle of Tomar was built around 1160 on a strategic location, over a hill and near river Nabão. It has an outer defensive wall and a citadel (alcáçova) with a keep inside. The keep, a central tower of residential and defensive functions, was introduced in Portugal by the templars, and the one in Tomar is one of the oldest in the country. Another novelty introduced in Portugal by the templars are the round towers in the outer walls, which are more resistant to attacks than square towers. When the town was founded, most of its residents lived in houses located inside the protective outer walls of the castle.

[Emmanuelle Catron]

Interior of the Round church decorated with late Gothic painting and sculpture.

[Emmanuelle Catron]

Round church

The Romanesque round church of the castle (charola, rotunda) was built in the second half of the 12th century by the Knights Templar. From the outside, the church is a 16-side polygonal structure, with strong buttresses, round windows and a bell-tower. Inside, the round church has a central, octagonal structure, connected by arches to a surrounding gallery (ambulatory). The general shape of the church is modelled after similar round structures in Jerusalem: the Mosque of Omar and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The capitals of the columns are still Romanesque (end of 12th century) and depict vegetal and animal motifs, as well as a Daniel in the Lions' Den scene. The style of the capitals shows the influence of artists working on the Cathedral of Coimbra, which was being built at the same time as the round church.

[Emmanuelle Catron]

The interior of the round church is magnificently decorated with late gothic/manueline sculpture and paintings, added during a renovation sponsored by King Manuel I starting in 1499. The pillars of the central octagon and the walls of the ambulatory have polychrome statues of saints and angels under exuberant Gothic canopies, while the walls and ceilings of the ambulatory are painted with Gothic patterns and panels depicting the life of Christ. The paintings are attributed to the workshop of the court painter of Manuel I, the Portuguese Jorge Afonso, while the sculptured decoration is attributed to Flemish sculptor Olivier de Gand and the Spaniard Hernán Muñoz. A magnificent panel depicting the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, by Portuguese painter Gregório Lopes, was painted for the Round Church and now hangs in the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon.

[Emmanuelle Catron]

Detail of the round church, view from the nave

[Emmanuelle Catron]

Manueline nave of the church

During the administration of Prince Henry the Navigator (first half of the 15th century), a gothic nave was added to the round church of the Convent, thus turning the round church into a church apse. From 1510 onwards, King Manuel I ordered the rebuilding of the nave in the style of the time, a mix of late gothic and renaissance that would be called Manueline style by art historians. The architects involved were the Portuguese Diogo de Arruda and the Spaniard João de Castilho.