Tomar

We arrive in the ancient town of Tomar, established in the mid-twelfth century in central Portugal, with ominous news about Ukraine. Borders may be moving, which makes Tomar a thought-provoking stop for our car trip from Porto to Lisbon – images of the Templars during the Reconquista. The receptionist at the hotel tells us the multi-banco system in the entire area is down, and that we should get some cash if we can. We blame Putin.

The February weather is luscious, a welcome early spring day. After lunch we head west over the Nabão; a series of shallow dams creates a 'terraced' river and just enough white noise to be peaceful. The parish church, the Igreja de São João de Baptista (fifteenth century), with its gorgeous porta and octagonal tower, is being renovated and is inaccessible. Behind the town's parking garage, we find the old, curving escadas, and begin our ascent through the wooded hill to the Convento e Castelo.

From our recent journey to the Beira, we expect a ruined castle, but the walls are fully and impressively intact. It's an effort to climb; the pavement rocks are irregular and worn. The exterior of the Convento, however, looks like any white-washed, municipal building in Lisbon. And as we walk the long formal approach, we see a properly tended, formal garden and laranjeiras heavy with bright fruit – so well kept, as if the Knights were still residence.

The cylindrical form of the Charola looms beyond.

 

 

The approach ends at a simple, carved stone stair, set on a bias to the axis. We step up to a small plaza where there are three significant features: the circular sides and buttresses of the Charola, the ruins of the Casa do Capítulo Velho (Old Chapter House), and the amazing Manueline porta entrada (sixteenth century).

The arched doorway is cased by a three-part archivolt, which is under an armillary sphere presented within a stretched trefoil. Above this is a Madonna and Child housed in a tall and elaborate tabernacle, topped by the first of many (many) Templar crosses.

 

Oddly, the visitor entrance is around the plaza to the right, a very tight fit, then the bilheteria inside the Capela de São Jorge (sacristia velha or Sala da Passagem). This takes us on to two, fairly plain, Gothic cloisters: the Claustro do Cemitério (single level) and the Claustro das Lavagens (two levels) – both from the early fifteenth century.

There are a few interesting touches of tile and decoration, for example, the painted and lace-like symbols in the ceiling of the Sacristia Nova Filipina. There is also a highly ornamented corridor which leads to the Charola, but is currently roped-off.

The way for tourists is to exit the southwest corner of the Claustro do Cemitério, and pass through a series of smaller rooms, and enter the church space from the north side of the Nave.

 

 

The Nave da Igreja (Nave Manueline, early sixteenth century) is a tall, cube-ish hall that joins the Coro Alto to the west, and contains the 'inside' of the porta entrada to the south and the entrance to the Charola to the east. It must act as a gathering or seating space, with a wonderful Manueline vaulted ceiling, though the remainder of the space is fairly unadorned. The Gothic windows of the Coro Alto are visible and provide plenty of natural light; tucked below the Coro is the Sala do Capítulo.

As we enter we are facing the porta entrada, the Coro Alto is on our right and the Charola on our left. But the Charola (late twelfth century) draws all our attention. It is an astonishing and unique creation: a round chapel within a round church.

The entrance is a pointed archway, brightly painted (sixteenth century), with the Templar cross at the peak, and large roundels with the four evangelists (from lower left to right: St Luke with the ox, St John with the eagle, St Matthew with the angel, and St Mark with the lion). In the crescent-shaped space between the door arch and the ceiling arch is Christ 'triumphant', accompanied by cherubs, with astonished Roman soldiers on either side. All the images are worn, with masonry joints bleeding through, but the color is strong, and the images are clear.

Below the roundels on the right is a stylish, compact pulpit. On the left, another pulpit is painted, including all the stone and gilt trim, to provide symmetry. A wood and stone balustrade separates the Charola from the Nave.

 

 

Stepping into the ambulatory, we can see that the center chapel holds an altar piece with the Crucifixion. The octagonal sides are broken by slender trefoil lancets above and (almost) pointed lancets below. Also along the upper level are painted panels, the central pair for instance shows two angels, the one on the left holding a crown of thorns, and on the right holding a burial shroud with the face of Christ.

As we make our way around clockwise, there is an enormous pipe with a Templar cross. This draws our gaze upward. The ceiling is covered in 'trompe l'oeil', Manueline-styled tracery, though it does look as though the ribs are in stone (my ancient eyes are overwhelmed). The background of the ceiling in the 'doughnut' is an earthy, burgundy-red; interesting to see the stonework in the vaults behind the paint, as the geometry transitions from eight-sided to sixteen. And if there are images in the roundels, they are difficult to focus. Templar crosses, armillary spheres, and Portugual's Quinas (five bezants on five escutcheons) abound.

In particular, the window behind the altar, and above the Portuguese Royal crest, apparently has more colored glass than the others. Checking the geometry, the window is off-set from the center (it is not directly behind); because eight bays are doubling to sixteen, there is a column behind the alter – so the backlight is more of a cool 'smolder' than a harsh 'spot'.

 

 

The ambulatory is lit by arched windows in the clerestory, with beautiful, cake-frosting surrounds that catch the light and add even more 'glow' and texture. There is a painting cycle just below the ceiling, but it strains my neck a bit too much to read the images – they appear to be scenes from the Old and new Testament done in the Renaissance style.

The ceiling vaults then rest on a series of ornate columns, some of which spring from the tops of tabernacles holding sculptural figures. Again, hard to read the figures, but the ones at the back may be Magi, as they are expensively and exotically dressed (and with quite elaborate beards).

Between the columns and the sculptures are a series of large arch-topped paintings depicting scenes from the life of Christ. The image of the Ascension is especially interesting, as only Jesus' feet can be seen in the clouds.

There are also paintings in the panels below the arched opening. An exemplar of these is a scene with St Sebastian being shot through with arrows; neither St Sebastian nor the townspeople are evidently affected by the violence (my friend mentioned that the composition and the man with the crossbow the seem to be 'Goya-esque').

 

 

The dome of the altar is painted sky-blue, with poly-chromatic stone ribs and gold-trimmed 'filigree', an eight-pointed sunburst, and a medallion with a Christogram (XPS) below the keystone. The alter space is roped-off, so looking up requires extra effort. It's not possible to decipher the sculptures mounted to the columns, but they look like various saints and scenes from the Passion. The Templar Knights used to pray on horse-back, so they were several feet higher, and maybe it was easier to see:

After passing the Triumphal arch we will be in a sacred area of a circular altar, the "charola", to allow the knights to pray, even while they were riding. In the "charola", the imposing central body, octagonal prism-shaped and the wonder in front our eyes, immediately captivates our attention and seems that it's inviting us to look with special attention to all the details on symbols and indicators, that lead us to reflect about the spiritual world that binds us at kind of faith that we are close the key of the indecipherable mystery, about the origin of the matter, that forms us: - the Life! (José Armando Vizela Cardoso, "The Templar Knights in Tomar", Edições Viera da Silva, 2020)

There is one more fresco that is yet 'unrestored' or 'unrefreshed', and appears to be in a medieval style (12th century); the text is very difficult to make out. According to Vizela Cardoso, this panel shows the 'Tree of Life', dropping five- and six- petal flowers. The numbers five and six are symbolic of the material world and the spiritual world, and so the image represents the merging of these worlds in the Tree of Life.

Below the Alto Coro is the Sala do Capítulo, a meeting room for the Knights. The room is low, with thick, heavy vaulting, and two windows: one facing south and one west. There is a medallion covering the central rib joint that repeats the eight-pointed star from the Charola's altar dome. Looking back towards the altar, the doorway perfectly frames the Crucifixion.

 

 

Through a discrete passage at the southwest of the Nave, we arrive at the northeast corner of the Claustro Principal (sixteenth century). This is a proper Renaissance courtyard right out of Palladio's Four Books. The geometries are fantastic: a giant Ionic order over a giant Doric order – both nearly in full round, the lesser Ionic and Doric and Ionic orders employing squared pilaster 'shafts'. The larger bays above enclose a smaller Serliana, with a larger arch below. The smaller bays above include a door opening and an oculus, with a rectangular transom below, the entablatures stepping out with the columns.

This architectural space offers and mood change – like going from monastic chats to JS Bach: the clean lines and rhythms, the warm tones of the stone, and the overall quality of the light. Subtly bubbling in the center is a multi-tiered fountain, the base in the shape of a Templar cross.

The challenge for the designer with this type of courtyard is in the corners. This architect sets a one of the small bays at forty-five degrees, with two of the corners holding lovely helical stairways – so the dynamism is at the folds. It's entertaining to mentally deconstruct the diagonal entablatures that zig-zag atop the capitals of the columns that are still square to their primary faces; the topmost entablatures are quarter rounds to keep the radial symmetry.

 

 

Immediately to our right as we enter the Claustro is the south-facing window from the Capítulo. The interior does not prepare us for the exterior. In the gap between the two constructions, obscured by a Renaissance pier, is a Manueline window of surprising richness – though, again, it is not easy to step back to consider. From the top, we have: the Portuguese royal crest with armillary spheres on each side, ribboned garlands, branches with buds regularly spaced, beefy ropes with line whipping formed into knots, a weighty woven sill, a decorative cruciform arrow slit at the sill's center, and another knotted rope at the belt course.

Just to one side of the window, we see the carving continuing around the Manueline and behind the Renaissance stonework. Here there is a looseness, a relaxed naturalness and the ornament spins around the corner tower to the west.

 

 

We chase the ribbons and ropes to a terrace on the north side of the Clasutro, and they take us to the Janela do Capítulo (the "Manueline Window", early fifteenth century). Astonishingly, it is similar to the south-facing window, but grander and more elaborate: with aquatic plants, more rope, larger floral forms, a grid of concentric squares, all capped with a Templar cross. As this is not against a Renaissance pier, this one is aged with grime and moss, adding color and temper.

To the south of the Claustro is another terrace that looks out to the Castelo and the ruined Casa do Capítulo Velho.

 

 

 

Descending to the lower level, we now also have access to the upper level of the Casa do Capítulo Velho as well as the Claustro da Santa Bárbara (sixteenth century), which provides a better look at the Janela do Capítulo.

As the afternoon grows late, and the guards become impatient, the towers cast their shadows onto the architecture, and the life seems to drain from the surfaces. We are the last out, as the guards emphatically shut the doors close behind us.

 

 

 

Afternoon becomes night in Tomar. When we arrive back at the hotel from a late dinner, another guest appears and requests a room. She is in desperate need of a bed, having been locked in the castle all evening – another lover of architecture. So we were not the last ones. Hope she has cash.