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The Convent of Christ (12th century – 18th century) is the name given to a group of historic buildings located in the parish of São João Baptista, in the city of Tomar, Portugal. The beginning of its construction dates back to 1160 and is closely linked to the beginnings of the Kingdom of Portugal and the role then played by the Knights Templar, where it had its Portuguese headquarters, having subsequently been reconfigured and expanded by the heir Order of Christ.
Built over hundreds of years by some of the most important medieval masters and architects working in the national territory (Diogo de Arruda, João de Castilho and Diogo de Torralva among many others), this architectural complex includes diverse buildings, almost all of notable relevance. heritage, including the castle and the Templar Charola, the 15th-century cloisters, the Manueline church and the Renaissance convent. Its current configuration reflects the successive functions to which it was destined and the architectural typologies of the historical periods in which it was built. In it we can find typically Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline, Renaissance, Mannerist and so-called floor style elements.
"Compendium of art, and compendium of history", many major figures in the history of Portugal are closely linked to the Convent of Christ. From the outset, the Templar master Gualdim Pais, true founder of the city of Tomar; Infante D. Henrique, responsible for an important phase of reconversion and expansion of the convent; D. Manuel I, who had the 16th century church erected, a true Ex libris of the Manueline style; D. João III, who implemented a radical refoundation of the Order of Christ and of the convent itself, projecting his architectural preferences there; Filipe II of Spain, who extended the constructive program of the reign of D. João III and held the courts that recognized him as King of Portugal.
The Convent of Christ stands out as one of the most important monumental complexes in Portuguese territory and is classified as a National Monument (1910) and as a World Heritage Site (1983).
History
Convent of Christ is a name that generally identifies an important architectural complex that includes the Templar Castle of Tomar, the Templar Charola and adjacent Manueline church, the Renaissance convent of the Order of Christ, the convent fence (or Mata dos Sete Montes), the Hermitage of Nossa Senhora da Conceição and the convent aqueduct (Aqueduto dos Pegões). Its construction began in the 12th century and lasted until the end of the 17th century, involving a vast commitment of resources, material and human, over successive generations. It is currently a cultural, touristic and devotional space.
XII-XVIII centuries
The castle was founded by Gualdim Pais in the reign of D. Afonso Henriques (in 1160) and still preserves memories of the time of these knight monks engaged in the reconquest; comprised the walled village, the yard and the military house located between the Master's house, the Alcáçova, and the oratory of the knights (the Rotunda or Charola). In 1357, forty-five years after the extinction of the Order of the Templars, the castle became definitively the headquarters of the Order of Christ, created in its replacement during the reign of King Dinis.
In 1420 Infante D. Henrique is appointed governor and administrator of the Order of Christ and, from then on, the exercise of governance of the Order will be handed over to the royal family. The Order is reconfigured without distorting its original spirit, of chivalry and crusade, but directing it towards a new objective, that of maritime expansion, which the Order itself will finance (it is with the Infante that the Knights become navigators and that many navigators become knights of the Order of Christ). During his regency, the branch of religious contemplatives was introduced into the Order, starting to coexist with that of knight-friars; the military house of the castle is transformed into a convent, two cloisters are built and the Alcáçova is adapted to become the manor house of the Infante.
Between 1495 and 1521 D. Manuel is king of Portugal, assuming the position of governor and mayor of the Order, which in his reign will have a deep involvement in the enterprise of the Discoveries, being the holder of an immense power spread throughout the Portuguese empire. The convent will be the scene of important expansion and improvement works, which are in line with the spirit that presided over the reign of this monarch. The Templar Rotunda is extended to the west, with the construction of an imposing church/choir and sacristy outside the walls (begun by Diogo de Arruda and completed by João de Castilho), where a renovating decorative language (Manueline style) is put into practice that "celebrates the Portuguese maritime discoveries, the mystique of the Order of Christ and the Crown in a grandiose manifestation of power and faith".
Even more than D. Manuel, D. João III will focus on Tomar many of his initiatives, in line with the desire to turn that city into a kind of «spiritual capital» of the kingdom, where he would like to be buried (some historians admit to having been this was the reason for building the small church-mausoleum of Nossa Senhora da Conceição). From 1529 he orders a profound reform of the Order of Christ and the construction of a new convent space. The process is led by Frei António de Lisboa, a notable humanist who implements a global change in the institution, transforming the Order into a strict cloistered order (inspired by the Rule of Saint Benedict) and promoting the construction of a large-scale convent. It was João de Castilho, the most renowned architect/master builder of the time, who took responsibility for the work (c. 1532-1552), followed by Diogo de Torralva (after 1554). The new buildings will appear to the west of the castle and the Manueline Nave, in a sober classicist style that contrasts with the hyper-decorative character of the Manueline period.
It is in the churchyard of the Convent of Christ that the Cortes de Tomar of 1581 take place, in which D. Filipe I (Philip II of Spain) is acclaimed King of Portugal. Heir to the Portuguese throne, Filipe I also becomes master of the Order of Christ. The construction of the convent continued during his administration and that of his successors, with the completion of the Cloister of King João III, the construction of the New Sacristy and, to the south, the Aqueduct (by Filipe Terzi). The north flank also undergoes significant changes, with the building of the New Entrance and the New Dormitory in the Cloister of the Hospedaria and, at the end of the 17th century, the great Infirmary and the Nova Apothecary, the last major works carried out in the convent, already at a later date to the Restoration of Independence.
19th-21st centuries
The 19th and 20th centuries represent a troubled time for the Convent of Christ, one of profound change. In 1811 French troops occupied the convent, leading to the destruction of the remarkable choir stalls. In 1834, the extinction of the religious orders suddenly put an end to monastic life in this male convent (by the will of D. Maria II, the Order of Christ would nevertheless survive, in the form of an Honorary Order; its Grand Master is, in present, the President of the Portuguese Republic); An important part of its contents is stolen, namely illuminated parchment corner books, paintings and other artistic specimens. The following year, many of the convent's assets (such as the convent fence, the enclosure of the old town in the castle and the buildings in the south-west corner of the convent) were sold at public auction to a private individual, the future Count of Tomar, who transformed the west wing of the cloister of Corvos in a mansion in the 19th century where he and his family would reside for several generations.
In 1845 D. Maria II, accompanied by D. Fernando, settles in the convent; seven years later, King Fernando orders the demolition of the upper floor of the Santa Bárbara Cloister and the first and second floors of the south wing of the Hospedaria Cloister to allow a better view of the façades of the 16th century church, namely the Manueline window, to the west, which had been obstructed by Renaissance buildings.
At the end of the 19th century, various facilities were handed over to the military – such as the former infirmaries, hospital, Knights' room, Apothecary and Micha cloister – for occupation by the Regional Military Hospital; in 1917 the entire complex, with the exception of the church, becomes occupied by the Ministry of War. In 1939, the properties of the heirs of the Count of Tomar were reacquired by the State. The disaffection of the spaces handed over to the military sphere would take place later, in the last decades of the 20th century, with the State reassuming full ownership of the convent, now with cultural and tourist functions, which remain.
Over the years, there have been many actions to recover the Convent of Christ; to them we owe the survival of the historic complex that we can admire today. Among the most recent works, the lengthy process of restoring the charola (started in the late 1980s and completed in 2013) stands out, which revealed a long-hidden treasure: the trompe l'oeil paintings from the Manueline period, " whose view remarkably transforms the reading of the inner space of the charola".
Asset classification
Due to its remarkable heritage value, the Convent of Christ is classified as a National Monument (1910) and as a World Heritage Site (1983). UNESCO's classification as a World Heritage Site was based on two criteria: first, the Convent of Christ represents an exceptional artistic achievement in terms of the primitive temple and the 16th century buildings; on the other hand, it is associated with ideas and events of universal significance, having originally been conceived as a symbolic monument of the reconquest and becoming, in the Manueline period, an inverse symbol, that of the opening of Portugal to foreign civilizations.
Architectural characterization
The diverse ensemble that makes up the Convent of Christ was built between the 12th and 17th centuries, having undergone successive adaptations that reflected the various types of use it accommodated and the stylistic characteristics of the architecture of the different historical moments, sharing Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline, renaissance, mannerist and the so-called ground style.
In a very simplified balance, of the initial buildings from the 12th and 13th centuries that survived, the Castle and the Templar Charola stand out (in Romanesque and Gothic styles); from interventions at the time of Infante D. Henrique in the 15th century, the Gothic cloisters, northwest of Charola, and the ruins of Paço do Infante; the initial 16th century intervention (1510-1515) left us the Manueline church/choir, the extensive enhancement of the interior of Charola, the South Portal and an unfinished Chapter Room, where the Manueline style predominates; the following works, started c. 1532, corresponded to the construction of the vast convent in Renaissance style (the Cloister of D. João III being Mannerist), which surrounded the exterior of the Manueline church and occupied an extensive area to the west (including several cloisters, bedrooms, refectory, kitchen and other spaces intended for to the monastic life); the last stages of construction took place during the Philippine Dynasty and in the period after the Restoration, corresponding to the construction, among others, of the long block, in floor style, which delimits the convent complex to the north/northeast (which housed the New Ordinance or Ordinance Filipina, the Infirmary and the Apothecary) and the Aqueduct, to the south.
Castle, Charola, Gothic Cloisters
Tomar Castle consisted of a ring of walls and was divided into three spaces. In the southern part was the village enclosure (where the orange grove is located today). On the highest part of the hill, to the north, was established the military house of the Templars, flanked by the house of the Master (the Alcáçova; in ruins), with its keep and, to the west, the oratory of the knights (the Charola). . These two enclosures were separated by the vast courtyard of the castle, today a garden space.
The Charola of the Convent of Christ was the private oratory (with probable sepulchral functions) of the Knights inside the fortress. Modeled after the Early Christian Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem, it is one of the rare and emblematic rotunda temples of medieval Europe. According to Paulo Pereira, its construction was carried out in two stages: the initial one took place in the second half of the 12th century (c. 1160-1190), in a period dominated by the Romanesque period (it would be interrupted due to serious skirmishes with the Almohads); the second, the completion of the temple, about four decades later (c. 1230-1250), already in the phase of full affirmation of the Gothic language in Portugal. The result is a work that combines elements of both styles (Romanesque and Gothic). The Charola's plan develops around a central, octagonal space, which unfolds into sixteen faces on the outer wall of the ambulatory. The interior of the central drum is covered by a dome based on crossed ribs, of great verticality, and the ambulatory by a barrel vault.
The building would be subject to adaptations over time, namely in terms of access, which was initially located to the east and which would pass, in the reign of King Manuel I, to the west, through a triumphal arch (of João de Castilho) of communication with the new Manueline church, in a formal and functional alteration that transformed the Charola into the main chapel of the new temple. The liturgical enhancement was then carried out through a comprehensive and multifaceted intervention that included carving and parietal painting programs and the integration of important pieces of sculpture and painting, where names such as Jorge Afonso, Olivier de Gand, Fernão Muñoz, Fernão by Anes, Gregório Lopes and Simão de Abreu (particularly significant was the discovery of 16th-century paintings on the ambulatory vault, finally revealed in a recent restoration).
The refurbishment and expansion of the monastery begun during the Infante's government resulted, among other initiatives, in the construction of two cloisters, in Gothic style, which have a structure of broken arcades on grouped columns. Adjacent to the Charola, the Cloister of the Cemetery is due to the design of Fernão Gonçalves and dates back to around 1420; the name is due to the fact that it was intended for the burial of the friars and high dignitaries of the Order of Christ. The Cloister of Lavagens, with two floors, was originally the link between the Cloister of the Cemetery and the Paço do Infante.
Stone game boards were identified in the Cloister of Lavagem and in the Cloister of Crows, which were part of the everyday life of the clerics.
Manueline Church and South Portal
Between 1510 and 1513, construction work on the church took place, under the direction of Diogo de Arruda. The new building was literally leaning against the western face of the old Templar charola and took advantage of the unevenness of the land in that area to create a unified volume of great grandeur (the external impact would, however, be seriously affected by the subsequent construction of the adjacent Renaissance cloisters), and create, inside, the overlapping spaces of the sacristy and the upper choir (where a remarkable chair by Olivier de Gand was installed, which would not survive the destruction of the property that occurred during the French Invasions). The ensemble, in particular the western façade, presents a decorative profusion endowed with a profound mythographic symbolism that crosses Christological and Marian symbols with those of royal heraldry. The famous window on the western façade in particular, conceived as an «inflamed stone poem», forms part of a vast vestment (girded with buttresses and enlivened with sculptures of the four «kings of arms» of the kingdom), revealing the ornamental program of terrestrial fauna and flora and echoes of the adventure of the Discoveries emblematic of the Manueline style.
The work would be completed in 1515, in a second undertaking in which the new person in charge, João de Castilho, was in charge of attending to several issues that had remained unresolved in the previous contract, including the construction of the vault of the new Manueline church/choir, the connection between it and the charola and the creation of a new and monumental access portal to the temple. The ribbed vault, with a single flight, which covers the church, gives unity to the space and enhances the interior lighting, coming from four windows (two to the south and two to the north), and a circular oculus on the west façade. The vault is divided into three panels, supported by eight corbels with vegetal and figurative decoration. Between the church/choir and the charola, a wide broken arch was opened, which ensures an effective integration between the two spaces. Finally, an altarpiece-portal was built to access the temple where João de Castilho tested a modular system that he would use again on the south portal of the Jerónimos Monastery.
The south portal of Tomar takes advantage of the thickness of the church wall to create an architectural canopy that tops and protects the sculptural ensemble, in which several symbolic figures of prophets, mitred clerics, Doctors of the Church were integrated, in which stands out, in the centre, the image of the Virgin Queen of Heaven, with the cross of Christ surmounting. From a stylistic point of view, there is a fusion between Manueline and Gothic style, already influenced by the decorative lexicon of the Renaissance, through a type of ornamentation that was widespread in Spain at the time, the Plateresque. In the work of 1515, the construction of the Chapter Room was also started, which would remain unfinished.
Renaissance cloisters
The overall layout of João de Castilho's Renaissance renovation and expansion obeyed a rational (and functional) concept. Two long corridors in a cross articulate four main cloisters, which together delimit an enormous quadrilateral; they are the Grand Cloister (or that of D. João III), the Cloister of the Hospedaria, the Cloister of the Crows and the Cloister of Micha. A fifth Cloister, of more modest dimensions, was placed against the western façade of the Manueline church, seriously affecting its visibility. From a functional point of view, this cloister – Claustro de Santa Bárbara – came to occupy a key place, in transition between the old and new buildings. It would have been the first to be built (c. 1531-1532) and its stylistic characteristics immediately reveal a radical break with the hyper-decorative density of the Manueline style and the option for a new classicist idiom. The first floor of this cloister was demolished in the mid-19th century with the aim of restoring visibility to the façade of the Manueline church, in particular the famous Manueline window. Finally, there is the small Cloister of Necessárias (a block protruding from the west façade of the convent complex), intended exclusively for sanitation.
The Cloister of the Hospedaria was intended to welcome visitors to the convent and therefore has a noble appearance. It preserves features identical to what must have been the initial Castilian Grand Cloister, allowing you to imagine in general terms what this lost construction might have been like. Buttresses with a quadrangular section, at the full height of the cloister, punctuate its elevations. Covered by ribbed vaults, the ground floor galleries are made up of four sections, with a double round arch resting on columns with large capitals; the first floor is covered with coffered wooden beams, consisting of an architrave resting in the center on an Ionic column; the west side of the cloister has an additional floor, designed in the same way as the first floor. The formal balance of this cloister was seriously disturbed by the subsequent demolition, to the south, of the gallery on the first floor (for reasons identical to those that dictated the amputation of the Cloister of Santa Bárbara), and by the construction, to the north, of the inelegant body of the so-called Portaria Nova , which distorts the balance of this façade. The Cloisters of Corvos and Micha are organized in a basically similar way to that of the Hospedaria, although they present a smaller scale and a simpler level of finishing, since they are different functional areas, destined to the novitiate and assistance.
Cloister of D. João III
The original Grand Cloister – or Cloister of D. João III – was almost completely dismantled after the death of João de Castilho, for reasons that remain to be fully clarified. It was replaced by the remarkable Mannerist version by Diogo de Torralva, considered a masterpiece of this architect and of European Mannerism. The construction works would be extended by Francisco Lopes after the death of Torralva (which occurred in 1566), with the final finishes (by Filipe Terzi) and the central fountain (by Pedro Fernandes de Torres) carried out in the time of Philippine domination. A top piece in 16th-century European architecture, this cloister reflects the early assimilation of the most erudite Mannerist values.
The Cloister of D. João III de Torralva reveals an absolute mastery of classical language, influenced by Books III and IV by Sebastiano Serlio and, probably, inspiring works such as the Villa Imperial de Pésaro (c. 1530), adapting them to the program from Tomar. The work interprets the same classic phrase, but now informed by the experience of the High Renaissance. Monumentality and scale play a decisive role here through the careful proportion of spans and supporting elements. "The result is a body of galleries with a diaphanous transparency", with a soft luminosity, reverberated by the soft stone of a warm color; "The values of light and shadow are accentuated by the chromatic play of the surfaces, which mostly use yellow limestone, in contrast to the black marble of the recessed planes".
Dormitories and Cruise, Refectory, Novitiate
The long corridors on the upper floor of the bedrooms are covered by extensive barrel vaults with typically classicist oak wood coffers; where they intersect, they form the Cruzeiro itself, an interesting architectural piece designed by Castilho with the assistance of Pedro Algorreta, adjacent to which is a chapel with the image of the Sitting Christ or Senhor da Cana Verde, 1654 (terracotta sculpture by Inácia da Encarnação) . Decorated in relief (garlands, putti…) and covered by a lantern with a “clerical cap” dome, the transept punctuates the intersection of corridors and alters the ensemble’s clean, stripped-down architecture. The refectory room is covered by a barrel vault, resting on a continuous cornice and with caissons delimited by stonework ribs, with a quadrangular section and classic configuration. Two pulpits, facing each other on the longest walls, exhibit symbolic Renaissance motifs.
On the first floor of the western façade of the Micha cloister, the three novitiate rooms stand out. Each of them seeks in some way to emulate Vitruvius' hypostyle hall; the first two (destined for the novices' dormitory), present an architrave space, with a wooden roof, supported by four central columns with Ionic capitals; in the third, square – the Chapel of the Novitiate or Dos Reis Magos –, "the architect [João de Castilho] built one of the masterpieces of the Portuguese Renaissance." The roof of this room, which completes the floor, is formed by the crossing of two wooden barrel vaults (with coffers), supported by architraves resting on Corinthian columns with composite capitals, the four central ones being perfectly highlighted and the remaining twelve backed up. to the adjacent walls.
Aqueduct, New Gate and Monastic Infirmary
Built in the era of Philip II of Spain, the Pegões Aqueduct was designed by Filipe Terzi. This is a large-scale hydraulic engineering work of about 6 kilometers in length, with a total of 180 arches for the aerial passages of the pipeline. Of particular note is the stretch over the Pegões valley, made up of 58 full-round arches, in the deepest part of the valley resting on 16 broken arches, in turn erected on imposing masonry massifs. The aqueduct ends with a row of large arches adjoining the south façade of the convent.
On the opposite side, to the north of the conventual complex, stands the "long and monotonous" body of the so-called Portaria Nova. Built in the 17th century, in the style of the floor, "without any stylistic embellishments", it includes the Infirmaries and the Apothecary. With an entrance to the north, the Portaria Nova includes a staircase in 3 flights, with ashlars of patterned blue and white tiles, preceded by a small vestibule (in the open), ending in the Sala dos Reis, a square space with tiles identical to the staircase and painted wood paneled ceiling. The New Sacristy, in Mannerist style, was also built during the Philippine Dynasty.
Hermitage of Our Lady of Conception
Located close to the Convent of Christ, the Hermitage of Nossa Senhora da Conceição was (according to a proposal by the historian Rafael Moreira), conceived as a church-mausoleum for King João III and his family (this testamentary desire of the king would not, in the however fulfilled by their successors). With a square shape, this small chapel was one of the last works by João de Castilho; its interior layout is identical to that of the Chapel of the Novitiate, although in this case entirely in stone. It would be finished by Diogo de Torralva (whose stylistic mark is particularly noticeable abroad) after Castilho's death.
"The beautiful exterior is far surpassed by the interior", not very spacious, where a reflection of the first Italian Renaissance hovers; this has three naves covered by barrel vaults on exquisite Corinthian columns, the transept being identically covered by a barrel vault. "The hermitage can rightly be considered one of the jewels of the European Renaissance. Its intriguing perfection, especially in the interior, [of Castilho] of a unique harmony in Portuguese and Peninsular architecture, makes it a true example of Renaissance language in architecture. "
