Christ's Convent

zepedro (32)in #photography • 7 years ago (edited)

The Convent of Christ (Portuguese: Convent of Christ / Monastery of Christ) is a former Roman Catholic monastery / monastery in the parish of Tomar (São João Baptista) and Santa Maria dos Olivais, in the municipality of Centrol, Tomar. Originally a 12th-century Templar fortress, when the order was dissolved in the 14th century, the Portuguese branch was transformed into Knights of the Order of Christ, who later supported the Portuguese maritime discoveries of the fifteenth century.

Constructed over hundreds of years by some of the most important masters and architects working in the national territory (Diogo de Arruda, João de Castilho and Diogo de Torralva among many others), this architectural ensemble includes diverse buildings, almost all of notable patrimonial relevance , Including the medieval castle and the Templar Charola, the fourteenth century cloisters, the Manueline church and the Renaissance convent. Its present configuration reflects its successive functions and the architectural typologies of the historical periods in which it was built. In it we can find elements typically Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline, Renaissance, Mannerist and so-called floor style.