| Remember the history of the enigmatic knights of the Order of the Temple in the Médio Tejo region. Initially formed to defend the sacred places of Palestine, the order spread all around Europe. The Portuguese headquarters of this religious and military order was set, in 1160, in Tomar.
It was D. Teresa, mother of D. Afonso Henriques, who first realised the importance of the Templars for the, at the time, County of Portugal. After Portugal became an independent country, the Templars assumed a fundamental role during the Christian Reconquista. When Pope Clement V abolished the order in the 14th century, king D. Dinis was able to get an exemption from the transfer of the Templar assets to the Order of the Hospital, and created the Order of Christ (1319), which got the heritage of the Temple. Visit the Almourol, Abrantes and Tomar Castles, which were used by the Templars for the defence of the Tagus Line, during the Christian Reconquista, in the 12th century. The Pentagonal Tower of Dornes, in the municipality of Ferreira do Zêzere, must have been used as a defensive watchtower by the Templars. Find at the Santa Maria do Olival Church, in Tomar, the tombstone of the knight Templar D. Gualdim Pais. |
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Templar Memory
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