TOMAR

The scenery round Tomar has its peculiar character and charm, different from alI the numberless and varied landscapes that extend nom N orth to South of Portugal.
Somewhat uneven and irregular, continuaIly washed by abundant waters of a river, owing to the springs of Àgroal, where picturesque water-wheels raise the leveI of the waters; with luxuriant vegetation amongst which we see not only the useful olive-tree, but also the weeping-willow and sweet smelling rose-gardens.
The fertility of its soil dia not fail to attract the attention of the Romans who built Sellium, there, on the ruins of which, Gualdim Pais, one of the Grand Masters of the Templars, erected the stroughold that stiIl rises hiSh above the town which grew up under its shelter.
À historical tradition - strengthened by an inscription inserted in one of the wal1s of the donjon - aSsares us that this important building was begun on the 1st march, 1160. Comprising four enclosures, the seat of the Kinghts T emplars, with its polygonal chapel, was, indeed, one of the mightiest military buildings existing at the tifne when the nght against the Moora was nercely raging.
Fragmenta of old walIs, having no historic interest, stand there to the present da, but thisy
shrine of the T emplars, or rather, what remains of it, is a unique monument, belonsing to that graceful and vigorous transitional architecture of the twelfth century. After the suppresSÍon of the arder of T emplars, it continued to be the shrine of the Knights of the arder of Christ, established by King Diniz.
A print of the sixteenth century showa us
this temple, such as it was !ong ago, topped by an. airy pyramidal dome, rising nom a polygonal structure, with a window on each of its sidea.
One day, lightning struck the clome, destroy':' ing it; ag a result of some .additional works of expansion executed in the reign of King Manuel, (1495-1521) this shrine, closed tiU then, was connected, through a lofty arch which :fiUed the space of two sides of this po!ygon of sixteen angles, into a stately nave mostlyoccupied by the choir; a turret and a magni:ficent steeple have been added since then, as well as the pictural decora_
tions, the stuccoes, the statues, anel the wood
work, which are now seen in this sanctuary of the Templars that has become, one may say, the high-altar of the church of the Convent of Christ.
N owithstanding, what remains of it is still an architectural master-piece of the twelfth century. Besides, the alterations introeluced durinS the Renaissance period may be consiclered, nom


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an artistic point of view, pertectly remarkable.
As, for instance, 1he mural paintin_s. 100 impertectly repaired, and the 1welve lar_e panels in oil-colours, excellent por1uguese primitives, of which only four are to be found in their rightful places-not mentioning the two altar-pieces belong
mg to the side-altars, which baTe la1ely been put once more mto place.
In the Old Art Museum or Lisbon there are three of these panels, of which 1wo are supposed 'to be by Gregório lopes; and at the local Museum may be seen some unfinished paintings, tragmentary pieces of three others or these panels.
It is a baseless invention ,that ascribes the other paintings to a hipothetical painter, Dralia.
Let us paga now into the Churchyard Cloister, a fine, graceful specimen of the gothic style, built, like the Cloister next to it, under the rule or Henry the Navigator, by the architect F erdinand Gonçalves, who has lert bis name carved there, on a stone pillar. F Tom the works executed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries we baTe only: in the first of these cloisters a lovely arch supported
on two small twin columns; in the second, which had a lower and an upper fIoor, the lower arch, in ruins.
The old Vesíry, formerly a chapel, opens into the first cloister and there, under a simple Gothic tombstone. lie the remains of the roo tutors who bronght up Henry the N avígator.
The ManueIine choir, erected against the
primitive T emplar' s Shrine, is the :lnost typical specimen of that Portuguese Renaissance which takes its name trom King Manuel. Its outside, decorated with omate naturalism, is nowhere more exhuberant than in the west tront where the weIl known window with its riot of symbols, is seen. (See plate n/ 9 and 10).
The original design and the first works are attributed to Diogo de Arruda (the builder or Saffi, in Morocco), later on João de Castilho took conn:ol, carving bis name on the wonderful figured doorway.
He likewise directed the building or the
.
unfinished Chapter House, used now as an Ins
cription Museum.
. lt was this same artist who, before the year
1533, planned the vast extensions of the Convent, which became too small arter the arder af Christ had been reformed. ln spite or the utiLtarian character of these works, one may still see details worthy or the great builder.
The Main Cloister. which should baTe been, íf not finished, at least much advanced in 1558, was at this date, rebuilt in Renaissance style just as
it is now. .
However, or bis first design some tragments remain which give us an idea of its splendour: the roo Refectory haIls, the Chapter Rouse, Santa Barbara's cloister, the old entrance doar. the
, eight chapels of the lower gaIlery which still existe to the present day, and the outside wall on the east side of the church.


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The two storied. Hospital cloister ia' second.
in importance.
In the Micha cloister, knoWn before as the
Labour cloister, were established. the work-shops of the Convento Und.er the stone slabs there is a large well whose vault is supported. by six columns.
Then come the cloisters of the Crows and.
N ecessid.ad.es, both of second.a,ry importance.
Let us not fartei the cloister of Si. Barbara, pressed. bet:ween the Main Cloister and. the Hospital Cloister, which CGuld. not be raised. as it wouIa caveI the famous choir-wind.ow, and. whose vaults are lowered., as arches.
. The refectory to which the lower :floor of the Main Cloister gives access is a vast roam cylind.rically vaulted. with two d.elicately sculptured.
pulpits.
The Main Cloister, as we see it nowad.ays, was d.esigned. by Diogo de T orralba in 1558, but was only nnished in the reign of Philip 11.
Its architect, the ltalian Philip Terzi took a share in the work effected. during the period of clàssic decadence.
The Vesuy, a vast roam of baroque style, the Royal Door, (1620) as well as the enuance halls, the Innrmary and the Pharmacy of the Convent, where the famous hall of the Knights is seen, d.ate from this período
The important aqueduct that brought water to the Convent, from a distance of six miles, was begun towards the end of the sixteenth century.
When we climb down from the Convent to
the town, we see, standing on a little hilI, the Chapel of Our Lady of the Conception, which, in spite of that modest appellation, is an authentic jewel of the Renaissance períod, perhaps one of the purest that existe in the whole Península.
It is, doubtIess, an architectural piece of the
sixteenth century.
Outside, it hardly reveaIs the existence of the Transept and ofiers very little interest in its rectangular, rather heavy formo
But inside, we have before our eyes a precious littIe Roman basilica, a rather faithful copy of the Corinthian arder, with its three naves, its cylindrícal vault, elegant dome anddelicate tracery of its chaptrels.
The church of Si. J ohn the Baptist, which we see through the battIements of the T emplars' old stronghold is one of the most curious of the Portuguese churches and one of the most characteristic.
The date of the primitive building. is unknown; we are only acquainted with the fact that about 1500 important alterations were made therein.
We should say that according to alI appearances, the simple gothic doorway seen in the south front mugi have come from the initial building, but the arches which separa te the aisles are aIready of a later período
The principal doorway,-gothic of the later períod, - and the pulpit, delicately wrought, already reveal the novelty of the Renaissance style


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which slips more than once luto some details, probably due to some F rench artist.
In this church are found some noteworthy primitive paintings, of the beginning of the sixteenth century, Salomé presenting the head of Si. J ohn; The Last Supper of Our Lord; Abraham and Melchisedec, the Mass of Si. Gregory, etc.
There, we algo see the beautiful triptych of the same period, representing the Baptism of Christ (see plate n.r 14).
On the opposite side of the Tiver and dating from the time of the foundation of the T emplar stronghold, stands the church of St. Maria' do Olival, the primitive parish of thi8 town.
Half buried under ground, it holds our attention by its wonderful 8ond well-kept rose-window, the 8orchaic char8octeristics of its door
w8oys, of which the principal one be8ors the sign of Solomon, symbol of the T empl8ors.
ln the first fifty ye8ors of the sixteenth centu:ry, some import8ont 8olterations were made in th3.t church, and it was then that the tomba of the Grand-Masters of the Orders of the T emplars and Christ were destroyed, though some of the ins-criptions were kept.
The seat of the Board of Local lnitiative and T ourism has justbeen est8oblished there, 8ot the corner of Rua da Graça. For this building many architectural elements of the Renaissance Wi!xe used, taken trem old demolished houses, such as the corner - window, which belonged in o1Jer times to the residence of the Prel8,te of the arder (See Plate n.r 18).