Tomar ( ), also known in English as
Thomar, is a city of some 20,000.
It is located in
Tomar
Municipality
that has a total area of 351.0 km² and a total
population of 43,007 inhabitants.
The
municipality is composed of 16 parishes, and is located in Santarém
District
.
It was founded as headquarters of the
Knights Templar in Portugal in the 12th
century and contains some of the most significant Templar monuments
in Europe. Tomar was especially important in the 15th century when
it was a centre of Portuguese overseas expansion under
Henry the Navigator, the Grand Master of
the
Order of Christ,
successor organization to the Templars in Portugal.
Geography
Tomar lies
in the most fertile region of Portugal, and one of the most fertile
in the whole of the Iberian Peninsula
: the Ribatejo
("by the
river Tagus
")
meadows. It is located in the district of
Santarém
.The predominant treescape is agricultural,
consisting of
olive,
pine
and
fig trees.
The seat of the municipality is the city of
Tomar
(which comprises the parishes of Santa Maria dos Olivais and São
João Baptista).
Tomar is also the capital of the Médio Tejo (Mid-Tagus river)
region.
The
Nabão river cuts across what was the
ancient city of Nabantia: its inhabitants are called
Nabantinos.
History
Under the modern city lie the
Roman
cities of
Nabantia and
Sellium. After the
conquest of the region from the
moors in the
Portuguese
Reconquista, the land was
granted in 1159 as a
fief to the
Order of the Knights Templar.
Its then Grand Master
in Portugal, and Tomar's somewhat mythical founder, Gualdim Pais, laid in 1160 the first stone of
the Castle and Monastery
that would become the Head-Quarters of the Order in
Portugal. The
foral or feudal
contract was granted in 1162 by the Grand Master to the people. The
Templars ruled from Tomar a vast region of central Portugal which
they pledged to defend from Moorish attacks and raids. Like many
lords of the unpopulated former frontier region of central
Portugal, the villains were given relatively liberal conditions in
comparison with those of the northern regions of Portugal, in order
to attract new immigrants. Those inhabitants which could sustain a
horse were obliged to pay military service in return for
privileges. They were not allowed the title of
Knight which was reserved to the
monks. Women were also admitted to the Order, although
they didn't fight.
In 1190
the town was besieged by the Muslim Almohad
King Yakub of Morocco
but the
Knights successfully defended it.
View of the Castle of Tomar
In 1314, under pressure from the
Pope, who
wanted the Templars banned throughout Europe, King
Dinis negotiated instead to transfer the possessions
and personnel of the order in Portugal to a newly created
Order of Christ.
This Order in 1319
moved south to Castro
Marim
, but in 1356 it returned to Tomar.In the
15th century the (cleric) Grand Master began to be nominated by the
Pope, and the (lay) Master or Governor by the King, instead of
being elected by the monks.
Henry the Navigator was made the
Governor of the Order, and it is believed that he used the
resources and knowledge of the Order to succeed in his enterprises
in Africa and in the Atlantic. The cross of the Order of Christ
that was painted in the sails of the
caravels that crossed the seas, and the
catholic missions in the new lands were to be under
the authority of the Tomar clerics until 1514.
Henry, enriched by his
overseas enterprises, was the first ruler to ameliorate the
buildings of the Convento de Cristo since its construction by Gualdim Pais. He
also ordered dams to be built to control the river Nabão and swamps
to be drained. This allowed the burgeoning town to attract more
settlers. Henry ordered the new streets to be designed in a
rational, geometrical fashion, as they can still be seen
today.
In 1438
the King Duarte, away from Lisbon
because of
the Black Death, died there
instead.
View of the round Templar church (12th
century) of the Convent of Christ.
Just after 1492 with the expulsion of the
Jews
from Spain, the town increased further with Jewish refugee
artisans and traders. The very large Jewish
minority dynamized the city with new trades and skills. Their
experience was vital in the success of the new trade routes with
Africa. The original
synagogue
still stands.
In the reign of
Manuel I of
Portugal the convent took its final form within the
Manueline renaissance style. With the growing
importance of the town as master of Portugal's overseas empire, the
leadership of the Order was granted to the King by the Pope.
However, under pressure from the Monarchs of Spain, the King soon
proclaimed by
Edict that all the Jews
remaining within the territory of Portugal would be after a short
period considered Christians, although simultaneously he forbade
them to leave, fearing that the exodus of Jewish men of knowledge
and capital would harm Portugal's burgeoning commercial empire.
Jews were largely undisturbed as nominal Christians for several
decades, until the establishment of a Tribunal of the
Inquisition by the initiative of the Catholic
Clergy in the town. Under persecution, wealthier Jews fled, most
others were forced to convert. Hundreds of both Jews and
New Christians were arrested, tortured and
burned at the stake in
autos da fé, in a
frenzy of persecution that peaked around 1550. Many others were
expropriated of their property. Jewish ascendancy, more than Jewish
religion, together with personal wealth determined whom would be
persecuted, since the expropriations reverted to the institution of
the Inquisition itself. The town lost then with the persecution of
its merchants and professionals most of its relevance as a trading
centre. New Christian names among the inhabitants are very common
today.
In 1581 the city was the seat of the
Cortes (Feudal Parliament) which acclaimed the
King of Spain
Felipe II as Portugal's
Felipe I.
During the 18th century Tomar was one of the first regions of
Portugal in industry. In the reign of
Maria
I, with royal support, a textile factory of
Jácome Ratton was established against the
opposition of the Order. The hydraulic resources of the river Nabão
were used to supply energy to this and many other factories, namely
paper factories, foundries, glassworks, silks and soaps.
Tomar was occupied by the French during the
Napoleonic invasions, against which it rebelled.
Wellington
with his Portuguese and English troops liberated the city
afterwards.
In 1834 all the religious orders, including the Order of Christ,
were extinguished.
Church of São João Baptista (15-16th
centuries) in the centre of Tomar.
Attractions
View of the Park, with river
Nabão
Tomar attracts many tourists because of its varied monuments. These
include:
- Synagogue of
Tomar: Tomar has the best preserved mediaeval synagogue of Portugal. It was built in the
mid-15th century and has an interesting interior with Gothic
vaulting and columns with
classic capitals. Since 1939
it houses the small Jewish Museum Abraão Zacuto,
with interesting pieces related to Jewish history in Portugal.
- Church of Saint John the Baptist (São João
Baptista): The main church of Tomar is located in the main
square of the town, in front of the Municipality (17th century) and
a modern statue of Gualdim Pais. The
church was built between the 15th and 16th centuries and has many
interesting artistic details, like the flamboyant Gothic portal,
the Manueline tower with a 16th century clock, the decorated
capitals of the inner columns of the nave and
several panels painted in the 1530s by one of Portugal's best
Renaissance artists, Gregório
Lopes.
- Chapel of Our Lady of the Conception
(Nossa Senhora da Conceição): Chapel built between 1532
and 1540 in pure Renaissance style, begun by João de Castilho and finished by
Diogo de Torralva. It was intended
to be the burial chapel of King
John III. Its beautiful and clear architecture turns it into
one of the best early Renaissance buildings in Portugal.
- Church and Convent of Saint
Iria: Located near the Nabão river, this early
16th-century building has a nice Renaissance portal and altar, as
well as Manueline architectonic details.
The streets and squares of the picturesque centre of Tomar are
organised following a chessboard pattern, a rare feature for a
mediaeval city, which later inspired the pattern used for the
rebuilding of Lisbon after the Earthquake in 1775. Scattered
throughout the town there are many interesting houses with
Renaissance,
Baroque and
Romantic façades. By the river Nabão,
near the bridge, there is a park and garden that offer nice views
of the city and surroundings.
Myths
It is rumored that there is a secret passageway between the Santa
Maria dos Olivais church and the Castle. It is also rumoured that a
theatre called Paraíso is haunted, or that there is an old man
living in its attic.
The
Castle of
Almourol
nearby is where several bad events (deaths and
tragic love stories) have taken place and is supposed to be haunted
by a princess.
Schools and Education
Tomar has several schools including primary, junior high school,
high schools and a Politechnic. These include :
Holidays
The municipal holiday is March 1.
There is an important festival every four years, the Festival of
the
Tabuleiros. The next festival will be held in
June and July 2011.
The Festa dos Tabuleiros is an ancient tradition of the city. It
originally begun in a little village of the city, called
Carregueiros. The population parades in pairs with the girl
carrying a tabuleiro on her head. The tabuleiro is made of 30
bread, either 6 rows of 5 or 5 rows of 6 and its decorated with
flowers. At the top of the tabuleiro one can find the crown which
normally contains either the white fowl, symbolising the holy
spirit, or the esfera armilar, a symbol revaluing the Portuguese
maritime expansion.
Sports
See also
Footnote
- Description of Tomar
External links
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