Walking the Camino de Santiago

August 24-

Had an amazing nights rest in my beautiful hotel room. Since this was a rest stop, I splurged for a nice hotel for a couple of nights. I woke up at 8am and headed downstairs to the complimentary breakfast offered by the hotel. The food there was very good and the servers so nice. After deciding to take the rest day in Tomar, I knew I would want to see several notable sites: the Convent of Christ, Fortifications and Aqueduct, as well as the quaint cobblestone roads themselves. But this was a rest day. So, I didn’t want to walk a boatload of miles today. Instead I hired a tour guide who carted me all over town in a Tuk Tuk. She was amazing and very well versed in the history.

First let me say that upon entering Tomar, I truly felt like I had entered an amusement park. Not only is the city pristinely clean, but all of the decorations from their Festa dos Tabuleiros festival, which takes place every four years in July, were still up from this years festivities.

Since I totally geeked out about the history, here’s a little information for you about the town of Tomar and it’s significance in history. Tomar was one of the last Knights Templar towns to be constructed, from a large area of land that they received from the King of Portugal as a gift for their help in conquering Lisbon. The town rose to fame in the 13th century, when it served as the Knights Templar Orders headquarters for 700 years. Tomar was especially important in the 15th century when it was a center of Portuguese overseas expansion under Dom Henrique (Henry the Navigator), the Grand Master of the then named the Order of Christ, successor organization to the Knights Templar in Portugal.

In 1314, under pressure from the Pope Clement V, the Knights Templar order was to be terminated. Philip IV of France, who owed the Templars huge debts, held the pope a prisoner and coerced him to suppress the order in exchange for his release. The Order was suppressed in most of Europe and its holdings were to be transferred to the Knights Hospitaler. Instead, King Dinis of Portugal, negotiated the transfer of the Order’s possessions and personnel in Portugal to a newly created ‘Order of Christ’. This Order was simply a rebranding of the Knights Templar. They remained headquartered in Tomar.

The Knights Templar’s primary job was to protect pilgrims (like me) traveling around Christian areas of Europe in the years after the armies of the first crusade had seized the holy land from Muslim rule. They also played a significant role in keeping the Moors from taking Tomar and other cities in Portugal. Legend also believes their job was to also protect the Holy Grail.

All eight of the Grand Masters of the Knights Templar are buried in the church at the Convento de Cristo. In addition to protecting Tomar, this impressive convent is an imposing monastery-castle complex that overlooks the town. It was constructed by the Knights Templar in 1159. Once home to the Knights Templar, it holds within its walls some of the best-kept secrets of this mysterious order. It is considered to be one of Portugal’s most important monuments.. and it certainly impressed me! And now for some photos…..

Once we finished touring the Convent and Church, we headed over to the Aqueduct. Around 6-km long, with 180 arches, the Aqueduct of Pegões was one of the main public works built in the 17th century in Portugal. This monumental work was built in order to supply water to the Convent of Christ – linking the Convent with the village of Pegões on the outskirts of Tomar, where there were four natural springs. Why? Because the King at that time didn’t like (or trust) the water that came from the cisterns already at the Convent.

One unique thing I did get to see on this tour is the Tomar matchbook museum which is housed at the Convent of San Francisco downtown. This thing was impressive. All collected from one man, Mota Lima, from his travels all over the world. His wife donated them to Tomar when he passed away.

Overall I loved this town. Everything about it was impressive. The people, the streets, shops, stores, you name it. I’d come back and visit without hesitation. It’s definitely my favorite city so far, with Lisbon taking second place.