The wonderful Portuguese culture

"Passion, culture, food and history"

Tomar

"The Templar city in the Ribatejo"

"A cidade dos Templários no Ribatejo"

Tomar is the Templar city in the Ribatejo

Tomar is a small picturesque city in central Portugal. The city is located at the Nabão river and is known as the Templar city in the Ribatejo. Here you get a wonderful vibe with a lot of nature, culture and history. This post gives you all insides of the Templar city in the district of Santarém.

What are the topics of this post?

The most important Templar history * Festa dos Tabuleiros * Medieval and nature

Estimated read time: 4 minutes

keywords:

#tomar, #templar, #templarios, #ribatejo, #conventodocristo

Information

Region:

District:

Nearest large city:

Distance to district capital:

Ribatejo

Santarem

70 km

Location keywords:

Knights Templar, Convento do Cristo, Ribatejo

The most important Templar history

Monks became knights

tomar ribatejo square city letters templar castle convent christ

Tomar is the home of the Knights Templar in Portugal. This city is also indicated as the most important place of the Templar history. On the top mountain, you discover the wonderful Castle of Tomar, also known as the Convent of Christ. In Portuguese, they call it "o Convento do Cristo". The Templars were monks who became knights to protect the territory. There symbol was a red cross on a white background.

tomar knighs templar red cross white background

The Knights Templar and the maritime discoveries

tomar the templar city in the ribatejo boat carvel red cross tabuleiros

In Portugal, the Templars also were important for something else. The Templars of Tomar were rich, they had a lot of money. So, they were the most important who financed the overseas discoveries that changed the world. This is why every famous Portuguese carvel had white sails with the red cross of the Knights Templar.

tomar templar statue infante dom henrique discoveries ribatejo

The Manueline Convent of Christ

tomar templar city ribatejo manueline window convento do cristo convent christ

The Convent of Christ was the home of the Knights Templar in Tomar. This convent is also known as he Castle of Tomar and one of the masterpieces of the wonderful Manueline style. Manueline style is a typical Portuguese Gothic style. You can discover it only in Portugal. A building in a Manueline style mostly holds an attractive window or gate. Because, here you discover all aspects of the typical Portuguese Manueline style. At the Convent of Tomar is the famous Manueline window a must see. You can visit this monument on a day trip from Lisbon or when you stay in Tomar.

tomar templar city convent christ convento castle manueline style

VISIT THE CONVENT OF TOMAR

Also in the Ribatejo, you acan discover the wonderful Almourol Castle, in the middle of the Tagus river. This also is a Templar castle. Constância is a lovely place to make a stop. It is located at the mouth of the Zêzere river in the Tagus. At the other side, you can go to Fátima, the most impressive Sanctuary in Portugal.

Festa dos Tabuleiros

Every 4 year, you have to be in Tomar for one of the biggest city festivals of Portugal: Festa dos Tabuleiros. In the beginning of July, for almost 10 days, the city transforms in a wonderful place. With flowers everywhere. All streets will be decorated with a lot of colours and images made in flowers. This 10 days city festival of the Trays ends with a huge marche through the city of the Tabuleiros. Every time, it attracts a lot of people from everywhere around the world. The Festival of the Trays took place for the latest time in 2023 and attracts around 500 000 people. Next time will be in July 2027.

tomar templar city ribatejo flower color street decoration july tabuleiros festival

tomar ribatejo festa dos tabuleiros july street decoration

tomar festa dos tabuleiros templar city ribatejo street decoration

tomar tabuleiros color street decoration flowers festa festival

Medieval & nature

tomar the templar city in the ribatejo main square baptiste republic praça nature

Aside of all this history and huge city festivals, Tomar is a great city to discover for a journey or a stay and discover the region. The city itself is a wonderful mix of nature around the Nabão river and a medieval feeling. Tomar feels like a warm charmming city in central Portugal where you still can breathe, relax in the nature and enjoy a medieval vibe.

tomar templar cty picturesque view nabao river nature water

tomar park nabao river templar city view ribatejo nature vibe

tomar nabao river nature park view in the templar city ribatejo

At the river, you find a pleasant attractive park with wonderful views over the city. But, you also have the opportunity to feel like you are completely in the nature.

tomar nature river nabao water wheel green

tomar park infante henrique garden city ribatejo

Eat in a Medieval restaurant

To get the complete Medieval feeling, you have to take place in Taverna Antiqua. The restaurant is decorated with a complete Medieval atmosphere. From the tables, candlelight, clothes of the waiters to even the plates, cutlery and the bill, everything has a medieval vibe.

tomar restaurant taverna antiqua medieval vibe ribatejo

tomar templar city ribatejo medieval food vibe restaurant

Travel and visit the Templars of Tomar

Visit this wonderful place full of important history. You can stay in Tomar or the large region. But it also is possible to visit Tomar as a daytrip from Lisboa. Tomar is the ideal place to visit to understand the Portuguese history. Find your perfect stay by pressing the button below.

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