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Tomar is located in the Central region of Portugal, in the district of Santarém and is included in the subregion of Médio Tejo. The municipality was founded in 1160, 858 years ago.

It is limited to the north by Ferreira do Zêzere, to the east by Abrantes, to the south by Vila Nova da Barquinha, to the west by Torres Novas and to the northwest by Ourém.

It is also crossed by the Nabão river, which divides the city of Tomar and which constitutes a natural space of great patrimonial and touristic value.

According to the censuses of 2011, Tomar had more than 40 667 inhabitants.

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Gualdim Pais was born in 1118, at the time, military and religious Orders were created to protect the pilgrims. One of the Orders created was the Knights Templar. Gualdim Pais was a Crusader and belonged to the Templars. In Portugal, Gualdim Pias was elected Master of the Templars, joining D. Afonso Henriques, of whom he was a friend, in the fight against the Muslims, where he was responsible for the defense of the Tagus frontier. Gualdim Pais settled in Tomar, which made him build the castle, where he installed the Templar Order.

In 1312, Pope Clement V, yielded to the pressure of the French King Philip IV, and extinguished the Order of the Templars. In the year 1319, D. Dinis created the Military Order of Christ, which inherited all the goods and privileges of the Templars and will play a very important role in the Portuguese Discoveries in the future.

The space where we find ourselves, is now a box office, formerly serving as a chapel, called the Chapel of St. George. It was built in 1426 by Vasco Gonçalves de Almeida and his wife Mécia Lourenço, masters of the Infante D. Henrique, buried here.

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We are now in the Manueline Church, made up of the Charola and the Alto Coro. D. Manuel, successor of the Infante, in the Government of the Order, builds the church by opening a triumphal arch on the western side of the tray. The tray becomes, the main chapel of the church. The Templar round-about, transformed into the main chapel of the Manueline Church, is dedicated to Jesus Christ and Mary, and still evokes the old and new testament.

They may also see paintings on the lives of saints, but some were stolen during the French Invasions; sculptures of wood (left to right: St. Paul, St. Augustine, St. Basil, St. Dominic, St. Anthony, St. Peter, St. Jerome), representing prophets. The Alto Coro was where the friars prayed while singing. Above the Coro Alto, we find three characteristic elements of the Manueline age: the Cross of the Order of Christ, the Armillary Sphere and the National Coat of Arms.

The Lower Choir served as a sacristy.

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Next we find the Main Cloister, from which you can see the Manueline Window or Window of the Chapter. This cloister was designed and built initially by João de Castilho, between 1533 and 1545. Although it was unfinished, it was probably its most significant contribution in the interior of this vast group, ordered to be erected by D. João III.

This cloister flanks the southern façade of the Manueline nave; has two vaulted floors and a square plan, with cut corners, with spiral staircases in the northeast and southwest corners. It is considered a masterpiece of European mannerism, revealing an absolute mastery of classical language and a new dynamic that represents its overcoming.

It is characteristic from this time, that the friars live in cloisters, hence why the doors to the dormitory are so low. They wanted to impose humility and psychologically, have an architectural barrier that makes us be more humble, because we adopt a physical position of containment. In the middle of the great hall, we observed the Chapel of the Cruise and the Heater, which served to warm the rooms. In the place where the large corridor crosses, there is the Cruzeiro proper, an interesting piece of architecture designed by Castilho with the assistance of Pedro Algorreta, which has a chapel adjoining. Decorated in relief and covered by a lantern with a dome, the cruise marks the intersection of corridors and changes the clear and uncluttered architecture of the whole.

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Cloister of Micha - Was designed in 1528, by João de Castilho and finished in 1542. Its name originates from the pieces of bread that were distributed here to the poor. At the top of this cloister is the house of the oven.

Cloister of Santa Bárbara - It was the first to be built in 1531. It occupies a key place of transition between old and new buildings, and works as a space of distribution inside the convent, because it establishes a connection to 3 cloisters. The first floor of this cloister was demolished in the middle of century XIX with the intention of restoring visibility to the facade of the Manueline church and in particular to the famous Manueline window.

Coister of Hospitality  - This cloister was intended to welcome visitors and, therefore, presents a more noble style. It was built in 1541. It is estimated that initially, it would have been the great cloister. The upper floor, is where the nobles were housed, and on the lower floor were the servants and stables.