Well, the summer is in full swing here in Portugal and while the weather is good and we are still awaiting the house construction phase, it’s an opportunity to explore our local surroundings.
Today we decided to take a short drive to Tomar. It’s a 40 minute drive straight down the IC9, which is a nice road and still toll-free. Although we had been to Tomar before, during a festival of living statues (which was really cool), and also to organize our driving licenses, we never really got a chance to fully explore the town or its history etc.
The first thing you notice in the shops is the amount of souvenirs based on the Knights Templars. The Templars are a fascinating subject in their own right and they were an important part in the foundation of the country of Portugal, but we did not realize that it was the main seat of the order, or that the Grand Master of the order was based here in Portugal and moved his seat from the north of the country, to Tomar for strategic advantage against the Moors in the 12th century.
The main attraction is the Convento de Cristo, which was constructed under the auspices of Gualdim de Pais, who was apparently the 4th Grand Master of the order. There is a statue of him in the impressive town square next to a 15th Century church. It would be usually packed with tourists surrounding the square at many of the cafés, but was quite empty due to the pandemic. We do hope that things can get back to normal soon!
We decided to have a proper look around the Convento de Cristo, as it holds UNESCO World heritage status. But before we did that it was a stroll around the gardens that are next to the castle walls. Its was pleasant enough and offered some welcome shade.
We then walked up hill and into the castle. After a cold beer in the cafe just outside the castle gates, we headed in for a look around and joined the very short queue for tickets for entry into the main building. It’s free to walk around the castle walls, which seems to be the same for most of Portugal, but our main interest was to look inside, so we left the walls for another day.
It was 6€ each to get in, but it is well worth it. The place is fascinating to look around. The central church was really impressive and you can see why it has the UNESCO world heritage status. It’s has many stages of construction through its history, but there is some seriously impressive architectural features. It also has quite a few cloisters and corridors which are very cool and pleasant to walk through on such a hot day. If you visit Portugal, then this place alone is worth a stop on your journey.
We spent a couple of hours exploring the building and then made our way down to another church overlooking the town to work out a route for the afternoon.
We stopped for a drink and a bite to eat in the cafe in the park next to the river. It’s not really a place for good Portuguese food, there are some really nice looking restaurants we saw later in town, but it’s good for a nice beer, or in my case a refreshing ice cold cider and a toastie! Netty did have a nice big salad though, which looked very appetizing.
And then, wouldn’t you know it, just as we were making our way to the bridge to re-enter the old town, there was a strange glass covered structure. On closer inspection, it turns out to be the remains of some Roman buildings that were found in 2004 during building excavation work. I did say Netty was Roman’d out, but I had no idea that it was there!
The rest of the time was just spent exploring the streets to see what is there. There are so many cafes and restaurants that look great, it’s just a real shame they are not getting as many visitors as they deserve.
We couldn’t help a slight detour to check out the castle at Ourem on the way home. I think that might be another trip out at a later date…
Our Portuguese Life 