Christ Convent In Tomar: Legacy Of Templars

Perched on a hill overlooking the town of Tomar, the Convent of Christ is a monumental and mystical complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site and a testament to the spiritual heritage of the Knights Templar and their Portuguese heirs. Originally built as a 12th-century Templar stronghold, imposing complex later housed the headquarters of the Order of Christ, a center of Portugal’s epoch-making Age of Discoveries. For the pilgrim, a visit to Tomar is an opportunity to get to terms with unique and widely misunderstood spirituality of the military orders, and to reflect on the troubled interaction of faith, power, and defense of Christendom. It is a world of shadow and light, of secrecy and profound devotion, where the warrior-monks can still be sensed in ancient stones.

The religious significance of Tomar is that it is associated with Knights Templar, an order that combined the austere monastic spirituality of Augustinian rule with military function of safeguarding Christian pilgrims and Holy Land. The Templars led a life dedicated to prayer, asceticism, and defense of faith, creating a unique spiritual tradition that embraced contemplative and the active, cross and sword. They were “milites Christi,” Christ’s knights, who believed that military service could be a Christian witness and sacrifice. When the order was controversially suppressed in 1312, the visionary King Dinis of Portugal negotiated wisely with the Pope and established the Order of Christ, to which all Templar property, membership, and spiritual heritage were passed on.

This continued their charism in Portugal, channeling it into the new enterprise of maritime exploration. Tomar’s architectural wealth is a physical record of this spiritual evolution. The complex’s centerpiece is Charola, a 16-sided polygonal Templar church modeled on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and Dome of Rock. Its fortress-like design with a central altar, unusual in a church, testifies toorder’s dual role: it was a house of prayer and a defendable stronghold. To step into the Charola is to step into another era, to feel the presence of the warrior-monks who prayed here before going off to war.

The most dramatic architectural feature is the famed Manueline window of Chapter House, a delicate lacework of stone that is a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture. Its symbolism is rich, its tree and coral adornments bringing to mind Tree of Life and development of Order of Christ in era of Prince Henry Navigator, who was its Grand Master. The most spiritually moving space for modern pilgrim is the Conventual Cloister. Added in16th century, its elegant Manueline decoration and serene atmosphere represent transition from a military order to a more traditional monastic order.

This beautiful, tranquil area, fountain and garden, is the perfect place for contemplation and meditation. It represents “sheathing of sword,” a shift from the defense of the physical Christendom to quest for new spiritual frontiers. It is here that it is best to ponder unfolding of order’s mission and summons to universal holiness, which in different centuries takes different forms. The convent continues to be a living spiritual and cultural center with regular liturgies that fill ancient halls with sound of prayer. The surrounding town of Tomar, with its medieval streets and old buildings, provide a fertile background for pilgrimage. For those wishing a more profound engagement, convent provides lectures and programs on history and complex spirituality of the Knights Templar and Order of Christ. A pilgrimage to Tomar presents pilgrim with challenge of nature of Christian “combat” not as a physical violence, but rather as a spiritual warfare against sin and injustice, fought with weapons of prayer, charity, and courage.