Convento de Cristo

The Convento de Cristo in Tomar is the last of the three major monasteries which I visited north of Lisbon. There is a pass which visitors can purchase that allow entry into the monasteries of Alcobaça, Batalha and finally, Tomar. I was impressed with the monastery at Batalha so I was hoping that the one in Tomar would be just as nice, if not better. As the name says, this is the Convent of Christ. This place is rather special, it is actually a convent and a fortress at the same time. It may sound contradictory but this is probably not that strange even now.

The convent was established by the Templar knights which were also known for their role in the Crusades. Eventually, the convent was transferred to the templar knights and it eventually became their seat of power. Thus it eventually became a fortress. Such was the strength of this fortress that it was able repel an invasion by the Moors. It thought it was rather strange to something like this called a convent when it looks very much like a castle. In a lot of ways it already is a castle. I don’t know what kind of nuns would live here but there are certainly very different from what I had in mind.

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