Knights Templars Private Tour from Lisbon

We begin our Knights Templar Tour with a visit to the Almourol Castle, in the district of Santarem, built on a small island 310 meters long and 75 meters wide, in the middle course of the Tagus River, Almourol was part of the Tagus river Line and is one of the most representative examples of the military architecture of the time at the time of the Christian Reconquest, the knights of the Order of the Templars, were in charge of the settlement of the territory between the river Mondego and the Tagus river, and of the defense of Coimbra, then capital of Portugal.

Quadrangular plan, high walls, reinforced by adjoining towers, dominated by a keep, closely linked to the beginnings of the kingdom of Portugal and the history of the Templars, a rough and rough fortress shrouded in mystery tells the people, without any proof, that there would be hidden the “treasure of the Templars”.

The Church of Santa Maria dos Olivais, also known as the Church of Santa Maria do Olival, located on the left bank of the river Nabao, in the city of Tomar, Portugal. The first temple founded around 1160 by D. Gualdim Pais, master of the Order of the Knights Templar, where a Benedictine monastery was formerly erected, was the seat of the Order of the Templars in Portugal, having served as pantheon of the Order’s masters.

With the extinction of the Order by the Church (Pope Clement V) and King François Philip IV (known as the Beautiful), this church became the head of the Order of Christ, becoming the headquarters of all the churches of the Portuguese Empire, with honors of Cathedral Cathedral.

The entrance of the Convent is made through a portico, an authentic sculpture by João and Diogo de Castilho, in the first church built by the Templar´s master Gualdim Pais, the oratorio or the Charola, a rare octagonal form, where the monks walked around praying, in16th century the Portuguese king D. Manuel add magnified sculptures, paintings and gilded carving.

With the glories of the maritime expansion is renovated with lush constructions in Manueline style, which has in the famous Window of the Chapter its greatest evidence. In 1312, the Order of the Templars had already been transformed into the Order of Christ, under the care of the infant D. Henrique, who will receive valuable knowledge that will be used for the overseas epic.

This Convent crosses times and artistic languages that travel through Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline, Renaissance, Baroque, Unesco World Heritage since 1983.

In the center of Tomar we can visit the oldest Portuguese Synagogue, its roof is supported by four columns representing the mothers of Israel: Sarah, Rachel, Rebecca and Leah, linked by 12 arches, symbolising the 12 tribes of Israel with four terracotta jars in the corners that serve as natural amplifiers. This temple was commissioned by Infante D. Henrique, ( Henry the Navigator ), for whom the Jewish community financed most of the Discoveries project.

In 1496 the jews are expelled from Portugal with the marriage of the Portuguese king Dom Manuel I with the daughter of the “Spanish” Catholic Kings and the synagogue was closed down, used for various purposes during centuries, when it was bought by Dr. Samuel Schwarz, who donated it to the State, on the condition that the Museu Luso-Hebraico was installed there.