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The Convent of Christ (12th – 18th century) is the name given to a
set of historic buildings located in the parish of São João
Baptista, city of Tomar, Portugal. The beginning of its construction
dates back to 1160 and is closely linked to the beginnings of the
Kingdom of Portugal and the role then played by the Templar Order,
where it had its Portuguese headquarters, having subsequently been
reconfigured and expanded by the heir to the Order of Christ.
Built over hundreds of years by some of the most important
medieval masters and architects working in Portugal (Diogo de
Arruda, João de Castilho and Diogo de Torralva, among many others),
this architectural complex includes diversified buildings, almost
all of remarkable importance. heritage, including the castle and the
Templar Charola, the 14th century cloisters, the Manueline church
and the Renaissance convent. Its present configuration reflects the
successive functions it was intended for and the architectural
typologies of the historical periods in which it was built. In it we
can find typically Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline, Renaissance,
Mannerist and so-called floor style elements.
"Art
compendium, and history compendium", many major figures in the
history of Portugal are closely linked to the Convent of Christ.
From the outset, the Templar master Gualdim Pais, the true founder
of the city of Tomar; Infante D. Henrique, responsible for an
important phase of conversion and expansion of the convent; D.
Manuel I, who ordered the construction of the 16th century church, a
true ex-libris of the Manueline style; D. João III, who implemented
a radical refoundation of the Order of Christ and the convent
itself, projecting his architectural preferences there; Philip II of
Spain, who extended the constructive program of the reign of D. João
III and held the courts there that recognized him as King of
Portugal.
The Convent of Christ stands out as one of the most
important monumental groups existing in Portuguese territory and is
classified as a National Monument (1910) and as a World Heritage
Site (1983).
Convento de Cristo is a denomination that generally
identifies an important architectural ensemble that includes the Templar
Castle of Tomar, the Templar Charola and adjacent Manueline church, the
Renaissance convent of the Order of Christ, the convent fence (or Mata
dos Sete Montes), the Ermida de Nossa Senhora da Conceição and the
conventual aqueduct (Aqueduto dos Pegões). Its construction began in the
twelfth century and lasted until the end of the seventeenth century,
involving a vast commitment of resources, material and human, over
successive generations. It is currently a cultural, tourist and even
devotional space.
12th-18th centuries
The castle was founded
by Gualdim Pais in the reign of D. Afonso Henriques (in 1160) and still
preserves memories of the time of these knight monks committed to the
reconquest; it comprised the walled village, the terreiro and the
military house located between the Mestre's house, the Alcáçova, and the
knights' oratory (the Rotunda or Charola). In 1357, forty-five years
after the extinction of the Templar Order, the castle became
definitively the seat of the Order of Christ, created in its place
during the reign of D. Dinis.
In 1420, Infante D. Henrique is
appointed governor and administrator of the Order of Christ and, from
then on, the exercise of governance of the Order will be handed over to
the royal family. The Order is reconfigured without detracting from its
original spirit of chivalry and crusade, but directing it towards a new
objective, that of maritime expansion, which the Order itself will
finance (it is with the Infante that the Knights become navigators and
that many sailors become knights of the Order of Christ). During his
regency, the branch of contemplative religious is introduced into the
Order, starting to coexist with that of the friars-knights; the castle's
military house is transformed into a convent, two cloisters are built
and the Alcáçova is adapted for the Infante's manor house.
Between 1495 and 1521 D. Manuel is King of Portugal, assuming the
position of governor and mayor of the Order, which in his reign will
have a deep involvement in the company of the Discoveries, holding an
immense power spread throughout the Portuguese empire. The convent will
be the scene of important expansion and improvement works, which are in
keeping with the spirit that presides over the reign of this monarch.
The Templar Rotunda is extended to the west, with the construction of an
imposing church/choir and sacristy outside the walls (begun by Diogo de
Arruda and completed by João de Castilho), where a renovating decorative
idiom (Manueline style) is put into practice that "celebrates the
Portuguese maritime discoveries, the mystique of the Order of Christ and
the Crown in a grandiose manifestation of power and faith".
Even
more than D. Manuel, D. João III will focus on Tomar many of his
initiatives, in line with the desire to turn that city into a kind of
«spiritual capital» of the kingdom, where he would like to be buried
(some historians admit having been this is the reason for the
construction of the small Church-Mausoleum of Nossa Senhora da
Conceição). From 1529 onwards, he ordered a profound reform of the Order
of Christ and the construction of a new convent space. The process is
led by Frei António de Lisboa, a noted humanist who implements a global
change in the institution, transforming the Order into a strict
cloistered order (inspired by the Rule of São Bento) and promoting the
construction of a large-scale convent. João de Castilho, the most
renowned architect/master builder of the time, would assume
responsibility for the work (c. 1532-1552), followed by Diogo de
Torralva (after 1554). The new buildings will appear to the west of the
castle and the Manueline Nave, according to a sober classicist style
that contrasts with the hyper-decorative character of the Manueline
style.
It is in the terreiro of the Convento de Cristo church
that the Courts of Tomar of 1581 take place, in which D. Filipe I
(Philip II of Spain) is acclaimed King of Portugal. Heir to the
Portuguese throne, Filipe I also becomes master of the Order of Christ.
The construction of the convent will continue during his rule and that
of his successors, with the completion of the Cloister of D. João III,
the construction of the Sacristia Nova and, to the south, the Aqueduct
(by Filipe Terzi). The northern flank also undergoes significant
changes, with the construction of the Portaria Nova and the Dormitório
Novo in the Cloister of the Hospedaria and, at the end of the 17th
century, the large Infirmary and the Botica nova, the last major works
carried out in the convent, at a later date. to the Restoration of
Independence.
19th-21st centuries
The 19th and 20th centuries
represent a troubled time of profound change for the Convent of Christ.
In 1811, French troops occupied the convent, leading to the destruction
of the remarkable choir stalls. In 1834, the extinction of the religious
orders suddenly put an end to monastic life in this male convent (by the
will of D. Maria II, the Order of Christ will nevertheless survive, in
the form of an Honorific Order; its Grand Master is, in present, the
President of the Portuguese Republic); An important part of its contents
is stolen, namely corner books on parchment with illuminations,
paintings and other artistic specimens. In the following year, many of
the convent's assets (such as the conventual enclosure, the enclosure of
the old town in the castle and the buildings on the south-west angle of
the convent), are sold at public auction to a private individual, the
future Count of Tomar, who transforms the west wing of the cloister of
Corvos in a 19th century mansion where he and his family will live for
several generations.
In 1845 D. Maria II, accompanied by D.
Fernando, settles in the convent; seven years later, D. Fernando ordered
the demolition of the upper floor of the Cloister of Santa Bárbara and
of the first and second floors of the south wing of the Cloister of the
Hospedaria to allow a better view of the facades of the 16th century
church, namely the Manueline window, to the west, which had been
obstructed by Renaissance buildings.
At the end of the 19th
century, several facilities were handed over to the military – such as
the old infirmaries, hospital, Sala dos Cavaleiros, Botica and cloister
da Micha – for occupation by the Regional Military Hospital; in 1917 the
entire complex, with the exception of the church, was taken over by the
Ministry of War. In 1939 the properties of the heirs of the Count of
Tomar were reacquired by the State. The disaffection of the spaces given
to the military sphere would take place later, in the last decades of
the 20th century, with the State taking full possession of the convent,
now with cultural and tourist functions, which remain.
Over the
years, there have been many actions to restore the Convent of Christ; to
them we owe the survival of the historical ensemble that we can admire
today. Among the most recent, the protracted restoration process of the
charola stands out (begun in the late 1980s and ended in 2013), which
revealed a long-hidden treasure: the trompe l'oeil paintings from the
Manueline period, " whose vision remarkably transforms the reading of
the charola's interior space".
Asset classification
Due to its
remarkable heritage value, the Convent of Christ is classified as a
National Monument (1910) and as a World Heritage Site (1983). UNESCO's
classification as a World Heritage Site was based on two criteria:
first, the Convent of Christ represents an exceptional artistic
achievement in terms of the primitive temple and sixteenth-century
buildings; on the other hand, it is associated with ideas and events of
universal significance, having been conceived at its origin as a
symbolic monument of the reconquest and becoming, in the Manueline
period, an inverse symbol, that of the opening of Portugal to external
civilizations.
The diverse set that makes up the Convent of Christ
was built between the 12th and 17th centuries, having undergone
successive adaptations that reflected the various types of use it
received and the stylistic characteristics of the architecture of the
different historical moments, sharing Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline,
Renaissance, Mannerist and so-called floor style.
In a very
simplified balance, of the initial buildings of the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries that have survived, the Castle and the Templar
Charola stand out (in Romanesque and Gothic styles); of the
interventions from the time of Infante D. Henrique in the 15th century,
the Gothic cloisters, to the northwest of Charola, and the ruins of Paço
do Infante should be noted; the initial 16th century intervention
(1510-1515) left us the Manueline church/choir, the wide enhancement of
the Charola's interior, the South Portal and an unfinished Chapter Room,
where the Manueline style predominates; the following works started c.
1532, corresponded to the construction of the vast convent in
Renaissance style (the Cloister of D. João III being Mannerist), which
externally involved the Manueline church and occupied an extensive area
to the west (including several cloisters, dormitories, refectory,
kitchen and other spaces intended for to monastic life); the last stages
of construction took place during the Philippine Dynasty and in the
period after the Restoration, corresponding to the construction, among
others, of the long block, in floor style, that delimits the convent
complex to the north/northeast (which housed the Portaria Nova or
Portaria Nova Filipina, the Infirmary and Botica) and the Aqueduct, to
the south.
Castle, Charola, Gothic Cloisters
The Castle of
Tomar consisted of a belt of walls and was divided into three spaces. In
the southern part was the village precinct (where the orange grove is
now located). On the highest part of the hill, to the north, the
military house of the Templars was established, flanked by the Master's
house (the Alcáçova; in ruins), with its keep and, to the west, the
knights' oratory (the Charola). . The vast courtyard of the castle, now
a landscaped space, separated these two enclosures.
The Charola
do Convento de Cristo was the private oratory (with probable burial
functions) of the Knights inside the fortress. Modeled on the
Paleo-Christian basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, it is one
of the rare and emblematic rotunda temples in medieval Europe. According
to Paulo Pereira, its construction was carried out in two stages: the
initial one took place in the second half of the twelfth century (c.
1160-1190), in a time dominated by the Romanesque (it would be
interrupted due to serious skirmishes with the Almohads); the second,
the completion of the temple, about four decades later (c. 1230-1250),
already in the phase of full affirmation of the Gothic language in
Portugal. The result is a work that crosses elements of both styles
(Romanesque and Gothic). Charola's floor plan develops around a central,
octagonal space, which unfolds into sixteen faces on the outer wall of
the ambulatory. The interior of the central drum is covered by a dome
based on crossed ribs, of great verticality, and the ambulatory by a
barrel vault.
The building would undergo adaptations over time,
namely in terms of access, which was initially located to the east and
which, in the reign of D. Manuel I, would be carried out to the west,
through a triumphal arch (from João de Castilho) of communication with
the new Manueline church, in a formal and functional alteration that
transformed the Charola into the chancel of the new temple. The
liturgical valorization was then carried out through a comprehensive and
multifaceted intervention that included carving and parietal painting
programs and the integration of important pieces of sculpture and
painting, where names such as Jorge Afonso, Olivier de Gand, Fernão
Muñoz, Fernão by Anes, Gregório Lopes and Simão de Abreu (particularly
significant was the discovery of 16th century paintings of the
ambulatory vault, finally revealed in a recent restoration).
The
refurbishment and expansion of the monastery begun during the period of
the Infante's rule resulted, among other initiatives, in the
construction of two cloisters, in Gothic style, with a structure of
broken arcades on grouped columns. Adjacent to Charola, the Cloister of
the Cemetery is designed by Fernão Gonçalves and dates back to around
1420; the name is due to the fact that it was intended for the burial of
the friars and high dignitaries of the Order of Christ. The two-storey
Cloister of the Washes was originally the articulation between the
Cemetery Cloister and the Paço do Infante.
Stone game boards were
identified in the Lavagem Cloister and in the Corvos Cloister, which
were part of the daily lives of the clerics.
Manueline Church and South Portal
Between 1510 and
1513, the construction of the church took place, under the direction of
Diogo de Arruda. The new building was literally leaning against the
western face of the old Templar charola and took advantage of the uneven
terrain in that area to create a unified volume of great grandeur (the
exterior impact would, however, be seriously affected by the later
construction of the adjacent Renaissance cloisters), and creating,
inside, the overlapping spaces of the sacristy and the upper choir
(where a remarkable choir by Olivier de Gand was installed, which would
not survive the heritage devastation that occurred during the French
Invasions). The whole, in particular the western façade, presents a
profusion of decoration endowed with a deep mythographic symbolism that
crosses the Christological and Marian symbols with those of royal
heraldry. The famous window on the western façade in particular,
conceived as an «inflamed poem of stone», is inscribed in a vast
vestment (girded with buttresses and animated with sculptures of the
four «kings in arms» of the kingdom), revealing the ornamental program
of terrestrial flora and fauna and echoes of the Discoveries adventure,
emblematic of the Manueline style.
The work would be completed in
1515, in a second contract in which the new manager, João de Castilho,
was in charge of dealing with several issues that had remained
unresolved in the previous contract, including the construction of the
vault of the new Manueline church/choir, the connection between it and
the charola and the creation of a new and monumental gateway to the
temple. The ribbed vault, with a single flight, that covers the church,
gives unity to the space and enhances the interior lighting, coming from
four windows (two to the south and two to the north) and a circular
oculus on the west facade. The vault is divided into three panels,
supported by eight corbels with plant and figurative decoration. Between
the church/choir and the charola was opened a wide broken arch that
ensures an effective integration between the two spaces. Finally, a
portal-retable was built to access the temple where João de Castilho
tested a modular system that he would use again in the south portal of
the Jerónimos Monastery.
The south portal of Tomar takes
advantage of the thickness of the church's wall to create an
architectural canopy that tops and protects the sculptural ensemble, in
which several symbolic figures of prophets, mitred clerics, Doctors of
the Church were integrated, in which, in the center, the image of the
Virgin Queen of Heaven, with the surmounting cross of Christ. From a
stylistic point of view, there is a fusion between Manueline and Gothic
influenced by the decorative lexicon of the Renaissance, through a type
of ornamentation that was very widespread in Spain, the Plateresque. In
the 1515 undertaking, the construction of the Chapter Room was also
started, which would remain unfinished.
renaissance cloisters
The overall layout of João de Castilho's Renaissance renovation and
expansion followed a rational (and functional) concept. Two long
corridors in a cross articulate four main cloisters, which together
delimit an enormous quadrilateral; they are the Cloister Grande (or of
D. João III), the Cloister of the Hospedaria, the Cloister of Corvos and
the Cloister of Micha. A fifth cloister, of more modest dimensions, was
placed against the western facade of the Manueline church, seriously
affecting its visibility. From a functional point of view, this cloister
– Cloister of Santa Bárbara –, came to occupy a key place, in the
transition between the old and the new buildings. It would have been the
first to be built (c. 1531-1532) and its stylistic characteristics
immediately reveal a radical break with the hyper-decorative density of
Manueline and the option for a new classicist idiom. The first floor of
this cloister was demolished in the mid-19th century in order to restore
visibility to the façade of the Manueline church, in particular the
famous Manueline window. Finally, note the small Cloister of Necessárias
(a protruding block on the west façade of the convent complex), intended
exclusively for sanitation.
The Cloister of the Hospedaria was
intended to welcome visitors to the convent and therefore has a noble
appearance. It preserves features identical to what must have been the
initial Castilian Grand Cloister, allowing us to imagine in general
terms what this lost construction would have been. Buttresses of
quadrangular section, along the entire height of the cloister, give
rhythm to its elevations. Covered by rib vaults, the galleries on the
ground floor are made up of four sections, with a double round arch
supported on columns with ample capitals; the first floor is covered by
wooden beams with caissons, being formed by an architrave based, in the
center, on an Ionic column; the west side of the cloister has an
additional floor, solved in the same way as the first floor. The formal
balance of this cloister was seriously disturbed by the subsequent
demolition, to the south, of the gallery on the first floor (for reasons
identical to those that dictated the amputation of the Santa Bárbara
Cloister), and by the construction, to the north, of the inelegant body
of the so-called Portaria Nova , which distorts the balance of this
facade. The Cloisters of Corvos and Micha are organized in a basically
similar way to the Hospedaria, although they have a smaller scale and a
simpler level of finishing, since they are different functional areas,
intended for the novitiate and assistance.
Cloister of D. João
III
The original Cloister Grande – or Cloister of D. João III – was
almost entirely dismantled after João de Castilho's death, for reasons
that remain to be fully clarified. It was replaced by the remarkable
Mannerist version by Diogo de Torralva, considered a masterpiece of this
architect and of European Mannerism. The construction works would be
extended by Francisco Lopes after Torralva's death (in 1566), with the
final finishes (by Filipe Terzi) and the central fountain (by Pedro
Fernandes de Torres) carried out already in the time of Philippine
domination. A top piece in 16th century European architecture, this
cloister reflects the early assimilation of the most erudite Mannerist
values.
The Cloister of D. João III de Torralva reveals an
absolute mastery of classical language, influenced by Books III and IV
by Sebastiano Serlio and, probably, by inspiring works such as Villa
Imperial de Pésaro (c. 1530), adapting them to the program from Tomar.
The work interprets the same classic syntagm, but now informed by the
experience of the High Renaissance. Monumentality and scale play a
decisive role here through the careful proportion of the spans and
supporting elements. "The result is a body of galleries of a diaphanous
transparency", of a soft luminosity, reverberated by the soft stone of
warm color; "The values of light and shadow are accentuated by the
play of chromaticism of the surfaces, which mostly use yellow limestone,
in contrast to the black marble of the recessed planes".
Dorms
and Cruise, Refectory, Novitiate
The long corridors on the upper
floor of the bedrooms are covered by extensive barrel vaults with
typical classicist oak coffered ceilings; at the place where they cross
they form the Cruzeiro itself, an interesting architectural piece
designed by Castilho with the assistance of Pedro Algorreta which has a
chapel adjacent to the image of the Seated Christ or Senhor da Cana
Verde, 1654 (terracotta sculpture by Inácia da Encarnação) . Decorated
in relief (garlands, putti…) and covered by a lantern with a dome in a
«clergyman's cap», the cross punctuates the intersection of corridors
and alters the clean and uncluttered architecture of the set. The
refectory room is covered by a barrel vault, based on a continuous
cornice and with caissons delimited by ribs in stone, of quadrangular
section and classical configuration. Two pulpits, located opposite each
other on the longer walls, display symbolic Renaissance motifs.
On the first floor of the west façade of the Micha cloister, the three
novitiate rooms stand out. Each of them seeks in some way to emulate
Vitruvius' hypostyle room; the first two (for the novices' dormitory)
have an arched space, covered in wood, supported by four central columns
with Ionic capitals; in the third, square one – the Chapel of the
Novitiate or Dos Reis Magos –, "the architect [João de Castilho] built
one of the Portuguese Renaissance masterpieces." The roof of this room,
which completes the floor, is formed by the intersection of two wooden
barrel vaults (with coffered ceilings), supported by architraves resting
on Corinthian columns with composite capitals, the four central ones
being perfectly highlighted and the remaining twelve adjacent to each
other to the boundary walls.
Aqueduct, New Gate and Monastic Infirmary
Built in
the era of Filipe II of Spain, the Pegões Aqueduct was designed by
Filipe Terzi. This is a large-scale hydraulic engineering work of
approximately 6 kilometers in length, with a total of 180 arches for the
overhead passages of the pipeline. The stretch over the Pegões valley
stands out, consisting of 58 round arches, in the deepest part of the
valley they are based on 16 broken arches, in turn built on imposing
masonry massifs. The aqueduct ends with a row of large arches attached
to the south façade of the convent.
On the opposite side, to the
north of the convent complex, is the "long and monotonous" body of the
so-called Portaria Nova. Built in the 17th century, in the ground style,
"without any stylistic imitations", it integrates the Infirmaries and
the Apothecary. With an entrance to the north, Portaria Nova includes a
staircase in 3 flights, with ashlars of blue and white patterned tiles,
being preceded by a small vestibule (in the open), ending in the Sala
dos Reis, a quadrangular space with tiles identical to the of the
staircase and painted wood paneled ceiling. The New Sacristy, in a
mannerist style, was also built during the Philippine Dynasty.
Chapel of Our Lady of Conception
Located close to the Convent of
Christ, the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição was (according to the
proposal of the historian Rafael Moreira) conceived as a
mausoleum-church for D. João III and his relatives (this testamentary
wish of the king would not, in the however fulfilled by his successors).
With a quadrangular outline, this small chapel was one of the last works
by João de Castilho; its interior configuration is identical to that of
the Novitiate Chapel, although in this case entirely in stone. It would
be completed by Diogo de Torralva (whose stylistic mark is particularly
noticeable abroad) after Castilho's death.
"The beautiful
exterior is far surpassed by the interior", not very spacious, where a
reflection of the first Italian renaissance hovers; this one has three
naves covered by barrel vaults over exquisite Corinthian columns, the
transept being identically covered by a barrel vault.[30] "The chapel
can be rightly considered one of the jewels of the European Renaissance.
Its intriguing perfection, especially in the interior, [de Castilho] of
a unique harmony in Portuguese and Peninsular architecture, makes it a
true example of Renaissance language in architecture. "