Convent of Christ ( Tomar ) The Convent of the Order of Christ ( ) is a religious building and Roman Catholic building in Tomar , Portugal , originally a Templar stronghold built in the 12th century . After the Order of the Knights Templar was dissolved in the 14th century , the Portuguese branch of the order was turned into the Knights of the Order of Christ , which supported Portugal ' s maritime discoveries of the 15th century . The Convent of Christ of Tomar is one of Portugal ' s most important historical and artistic monuments and has been in the World Heritage list of UNESCO since 1983 . History . Templar stronghold . The castle of the Knights Templar of Tomar was built by Gualdim Pais , provincial Master of the Order of the Temple , around 1160 . Later in that century , the castle was chosen as the headquarters of the order in Portugal . The castle of Tomar was part of the defence system created by the Templars to secure the border of the young Christian Kingdom against the Moors , which at the time ( mid - 12th century ) corresponded approximately to the Tagus river . The famous round church ( " rotunda " ) of the castle of Tomar was also built in the second half of the 12th century . The church , like some other templar churches throughout Europe , was modelled after the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem , which was believed by the crusaders to be a remnant of the Temple of Solomon . The Church of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem may also have served as model . According to Christian chroniclers , the castle of Tomar resisted in 1190 the attacks of caliph Abu Yusuf al - Mansur , who had previously taken other Portuguese strongholds to the South . A plaque near the entrance of the castle church remembers the feat . Seat of the Order of Christ . The Templar order was suppressed throughout most of Europe from 1312 – 1314 , but in Portugal its members , assets , and partly its membership were transmitted to the Order of Christ , created in 1319 by King Dinis . The Order of Christ moved to Tomar in 1357 , which became its headquarters . One of the most important Grand Masters of the Order was Prince Henry the Navigator , who ruled the Order from 1417 up to his death in 1460 . Prince Henry gave great impulse to the pioneering Portuguese expeditions during the Age of Exploration . In the Convent , Prince Henry ordered the construction of various cloisters and other buildings . He also sponsored urban improvements in the town of Tomar itself . Another important personality related to the Order was King Manuel I , who became Master of the Order in 1484 and King of Portugal in 1492 . Under his reign there were several important improvements in the Convent , specially the addition of a new nave to the round church and its inner decoration with paintings and sculptures . The successor of Manuel I , King John III , demilitarised the order , turning it into a more religious order with a rule based on that of Bernard of Clairvaux . He also ordered the construction of a new cloister in 1557 , which is one of the best examples of Renaissance architecture in Portugal . In 1581 , after a succession crisis , the Portuguese Nobility gathered in the Convent of Christ in Tomar and officially recognised Philip II of Spain ( Philip I of Portugal ) as King . This is the beginning of the Iberian Union ( 1581 – 1640 ) , during which the Crowns of Portugal and Spain were united in a dynastic union . The aqueduct of the Convent was built during this period . Art and architecture . The castle and Convent of Christ have examples of Romanesque , Gothic , Manueline and Renaissance architectural styles . Castle and walls . The castle of Tomar was built around 1160 on a strategic location , over a hill and near river Nabão . It has an outer defensive wall and a citadel ( " alcáçova " ) with a keep inside . The Keep , a central tower of residential and defensive functions , was introduced in Portugal by the Templars , and the one in Tomar is one of the oldest in the country . Another novelty introduced in Portugal by the Templars ( learned from decades of experience in Normandy and Brittany and elsewhere ) are the round towers in the outer walls , which are more resistant to attacks than square towers . When the town was founded , most of its residents lived in dwellings located inside the protective outer walls of the castle . Round church . The Romanesque round church is a Roman Catholic Church from the castle ( " charola " , " rotunda " ) was built in the second half of the 12th century by the Knights Templar . From the outside , the church is a 16 - side polygonal structure , with strong buttresses , round windows and a bell - tower . Inside , the round church has a central , octagonal structure , connected by arches to a surrounding gallery ( ambulatory ) . The general shape of the church is modelled after similar round structures in Jerusalem : the Mosque of Omar and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre . The capitals of the columns are still Romanesque ( end of 12th century ) and depict vegetal and animal motifs , as well as a " Daniel in the Lions ' Den " scene . The style of the capitals shows the influence of artists working on the Cathedral of Coimbra , which was being built at the same time as the round church . The interior of the round church is magnificently decorated with late gothic / manueline sculpture and paintings , added during a renovation sponsored by King Manuel I starting in 1499 . The pillars of the central octagon and the walls of the ambulatory have polychrome statues of saints and angels under exuberant Gothic canopies , while the walls and ceilings of the ambulatory are painted with Gothic patterns and panels depicting the life of Christ . The paintings are attributed to the workshop of the court painter of Manuel I , the Portuguese Jorge Afonso , while the sculptured decoration is attributed to Flemish sculptor " Olivier de Gand " and the Spaniard " Hernán Muñoz " . A magnificent panel depicting the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian , by Portuguese painter Gregório Lopes , was painted for the Round Church and now hangs in the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon . Manueline nave of the church . During the administration of Prince Henry the Navigator ( first half of the 15th century ) , a gothic nave was added to the round church of the Convent , thus turning the round church into a church apse . From 1510 onwards , King Manuel I ordered the rebuilding of the nave in the style of the time , a mix of late gothic and renaissance that would be called Manueline style by art historians . The architects involved were the Portuguese " Diogo de Arruda " and the Spaniard " João de Castilho " . From the outside , the rectangular nave is covered by abundant Manueline motifs , including gargoyles , gothic pinnacles , statues and " ropes " that remind the ones used in the ships during the Age of Discovery , as well as the Cross of the Order of Christ and the emblem of King Manuel I , the armillary sphere . The so - called Window of the Chapter House ( " Janela do Capítulo " ) , a huge window visible from the Saint Barbara Cloister in the Western façade of the nave , carries most of the typical Manueline motifs : the symbols of the Order of Christ and of Manuel I , and fantastic and unprecedented elaborations of ropes , corals and vegetal motifs . A human figure in the bottom of the window probably represents the designer , Diogo de Arruda . This window of the Convent constitutes one of the masterworks of Manueline decoration . Above is a smaller circular window and a balustrade . The façade is divided by two string courses of knotted ropes . The round angle buttresses are decorated with gigantic garters ( alluding to investiture of Manuel I by the Order of the Garter by the English king Henry VII ) . The entrance of the church is done through a magnificent lateral portal , also decorated with abundant Manueline motifs and statues of the Virgin with the Child as well as the Prophets of the Old Testament . This portal was designed by João de Castilho around 1530 . In the interior , the Manueline nave is connected to the Romanesque round church by a large arch . The nave is covered by beautiful ribbed vaulting and has a high choir that used to have Manueline choir stalls , unfortunately destroyed by invading Napoleonic troops in the early 19th century . Under the high choir there is a room that used to be the sacristy of the church . Its window is the famous Chapter House Window already mentioned . Cloisters . The Convent of Christ has a total of eight cloister s , built in the 15th and 16th centuries . Some examples :