Apart from the fact that Fribourg had never dealt in onions, the chronicles of Bern show no such event for 1405 of the following years. Rather, the feast of St. Martin held on a single day was expanded over time to fill two whole weeks. Martini, as the day is known in Switzerland, was a time to mark the passing of summer into autumn and free of work for everyone. And the market offered all the goods you might want to stock for the coming winter.

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The market attracts over 700 merchants every year which put up their stands during the night and start selling before the break of dawn. Officially the market opens at 6 a.m., but selling starts at 4 o’clock. The local population is usually long home when at nine the first busloads of tourists arrive. And they arrive all day long, ten thousands of people.

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Though the Queen of Wistenlach has lost her predominance over the market, still more than one third of stands sell the golden skinned onion together with her red skinned royal cousin. The rest is given over to clothes, sweets, cheese, and whatever you may think of peddling at the market.

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The market is the last of the kermes, after that the Christmas markets will hold sway. The day is given over to the market and its stand, but after the schools close, it takes on a carnival air, when dressed up people will roam the streets, singers will go from restaurant to restaurant singing satirical songs about what has happened over the last year, and satirical newspapers will be distributed to the visitors.

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The most important part of the day for kids starts at 4 p.m.: the great confetti battle. He general battle held mainly by kids with little paper shreds (almost everything is allowed to get anybody as full of shreds as possible) usually heralds the end of the selling market and the start of the evening’s festivities.

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The traditional food for the day is obviously the local onion pie or the local cheese pie, though meanwhile you’ll find any kind of sustenance at the market. With it you might drink spiced hot wine or cold local wines.

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 Monastery of Batalha, façade.

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Batalha monastery with the statue of Nuno Alvares Pereira.

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The Dominican abbey of Santa Maria da Vitoria in Batalha, celebrating the Victory of Aljubarrota in 1385 is the masterpiece of Rayonnant Gothic Style in Portugal. Dom Joao had made a wish to erect a sumptuous church dedicated to the Virgin if he won the battle. The works expanded from 1388 to 1517 in the Late Gothic Style intermingled with the Manueline decoration. The architect Afonso Domingues, followed in 1402 by David Huguet used the Rayonnant Gothic influenced by the English Perpendicular Style of York Minster, Joao had married Philippa of Lancaster who introduced English architects. Huguet then introduced the Flamboyant Gothic, raising the height of the nave, which makes it look even narrower. He could not finished the works so we still have the so-called, but magnificent, Imperfect Chapels. During the following two centuries, various kings continued the works: the son of Joao, King Duarte, ordered a pantheon behind the apse, and the Manueline decorations were then added. The abbey still has a military role, two unknown soldiers of World War I rest in the Chapter House whose star vault by Huguet and stained glass windows really are exceptional.

     Monastery of Batalha, the Royal Cloisters.

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In the Founder’s Chapel, Dom Joao I and Philippa of Lancaster, are resting hand in hand. The tomb was began in 1426 by David Huguet and finished in 1434. Their son, Henry the Navigator also was buried here under the octagon stellar vault.

Remarkable stellar vault in the Founder’s Chapel.

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Tomb of Joao I and Philippa of Lancaster.

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Fountain (1450) in the Monks Lavatory.

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The Imperfect Chapels ordered by King Duarte is an unfinished mausoleum.  The motto of King Manuel I , who did not continue the works, is repeated two hundred times on the walls. The homage to King Duarte says: “Leauté faray tam yaserei” (I will always be loyal). 

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The sumptuous Manueline Portal of the Imperfect Chapels sculpted in 1509 by M. Fernandes.

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Outside of the Imperfect Chapels.

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The Royal Cloister is ascribed to various architects and the famous Diogo Boitac gave the intricate tracery of the arcades featuring the Cross of the Order of Christ, armillary spheres, pearls, lotus flowers, seashells and all sorts of exotic vegetation as well as tree stumps. There is a stark contrast with the sober and simple Cloister of Alfonso V.  During the Napoleonic Wars, Marshall Masséna, and his troops, facing the religious fanaticism, unfortunately caused great damage to the Monastery of Batalha in 1810-1811 and namely opened certain tombs and threw the royal remains away. In 1840, King Ferdinand II restored the ruined buildings from where the Dominicans had been expelled in 1834. The edifice became a national monument in 1907 and listed by UNESCO a world heritage site in 1983. It is a museum since 1980. The abbey still has a military role, two unknown soldiers of World war I rest in the Chapter House.

Manueline décor with intricate arcade screens in the Royal Cloister of King Joao I.

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Carved traceries in the Royal Cloister.

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The Monastery of Batalha where Flamboyant Gothic architecture is intermingled with Manueline Style.

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Please check out also my related article: http://trifter.com/europe/portugal/the-knights-templar-castle-in-tomar/

Filoli Mansion and Gardens, located in Woodside, California, is 30 miles south of San Francisco along scenic Interstate 280. Filoli is about to unveil Holiday Traditions, a fun filled seasonal event and fundraiser that begins the day after Thanksgiving and lasts for 9 exciting days.

What is Filoli?

Filoli is a 654-acre private estate that includes a 36,000 square-foot mansion furnished with elegant antiques and decorative art. The property also has 16 acres of European-inspired gardens that showcase dramatic seasonal horticultural exhibits.

Filoli is recognized as one of the finest remaining American country estates of the early 20th century. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975.

Today, Filoli is owned by a non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote cultural and horticultural activities. The knowledgeable staff – with the help of hundreds of active volunteers – raises money to sustain Filoli by staging colorful family events with enormous appeal.

Winter Wonderland at Filoli

This year’s event theme is Winter Wonderland. Six hundred and fifty Filoli volunteers are transforming the mansion into a spectacular floral display and storehouse of exciting gifts. Filoli will sparkle and glisten with stunning decorations, live music, merriment  – and dancing in the ballroom at the Gala Dinner Party. 

You and your family can be part of the holiday cheer – but buy your tickets early

SHOP

Come and shop the Holiday Boutique with its wide range of exceptional merchandise. Browse while holiday performers sing and play seasonal favorites. Bring your holiday shopping list.  As the photos attest, there are thousands of desirable gifts for all ages.

Dine

Relax amid glorious winter flowers and glistening decorations while enjoying a tasty lunch or dinner.

Socialize

Celebrate the season by attending The Gala Dinner Party on November 28 – a grand occasion featuring fine food, live music and dancing in the famed Filoli ballroom. Get your tickets early. This event is a certain sell-out.

Bring the kids

Be sure to take the young ones to the popular Children’s Party on December 5.

Everyone that visits Filoli during this festive season will experience the magic and wonder of winter in beautiful Woodside, California.

Support the cause. This is one fundraiser where all benefactors are sure to walk away with a pocket full of holiday smiles, and a bag full of special gifts.

General information is available online by clicking Filoli. For tickets and reservations click on Holiday Traditions.

See you there, and Happy Holidays!

Interested in learning more about Filoli? Click on the titles below:

Movies made at Filoli

Dynasty’s TV mansion

Filoli Spring Fling

© Travels with Wayne and Judy (syndicated)

Photos © Wayne and Judy Bayliff

On a hill overlooking an attractive stretch of the River Thames, stands the high-steepled church of St. Michael and All Angels, in the Oxfordshire village of Clifton Hampden.  And although the greater part of the present church is the result of Victorian ‘restoration fever’, there is historical evidence to suggest that a church has stood on the spot since well before the 12th century.

Some parts of the original medieval village church still exist inside the building, dating back to around the time of King Stephen who was the grandson of William the Conqueror.  Examples of the architecture from that time include the large square bases of two pillars, a piscina that once held holy water for making the sign of the cross and a carved crosslet in the lower part of a substantial stone pillar. 

A unique and fascinating artefact that also survived from around the 12th century is set into the south wall of the south chapel.  Believed to have been above the door of the original medieval church, it is a stone carving depicting a medieval boar hunt.

The baptismal font is attractive and richly decorated but relatively new in historical terms.  However, the church did at one time possess an ancient lead font until, in 1797, in what can only be described as a sheer act of vandalism, it was melted down by the churchwarden of the time, John Ridge, who then proceeded to use the lead to help repair the roof.  Quite rightly he was ‘invited to resign’.

For whatever reason, by 1843 the church had deteriorated to such an extent that only substantial restoration would save the building from being lost forever.  George Gilbert Scott, the celebrated architect responsible for, amongst other things, St. Pancras railway station in London and the Albert Memorial outside Buckingham Palace, was commissioned to save it.  Funds for the project were provided from a legacy from the late George Henry Gibbs, (whose tomb is inside the church), his widow and his son.  A second phase of restoration took place in the years 1864 to 1867 when a new organ was installed, three Gothic windows were introduced into the north wall and the chancel was re-fitted with stalls for the choir.

Outside, the churchyard of St. Michael and All Angels is interesting in its own right.  The steps leading up to the carved wooden lych-gate, and the churchyard itself, start from a deeply-hollowed lane that was once part of a coaching road that ran through the village from Dorchester-on-Thames.

At one point the churchyard was actually part of a farm, thereby bringing about the necessity to have all burials transported to nearby Dorchester-on-Thames.  In 1819 however, the land was given as a gift to the church by Anne Noyes, her sister and Elizabeth Drake, finally allowing the residents of Clifton Hampden to be buried in their own village.

On the subject of burials, there are two graves at Clifton Hampden that are of particular interest.  The first is that of William Dyke.  Dyke, at the time a 20 year-old private in the 1st Foot Guards (later to become the Grenadier Guards), accidentally fired the very first shot in the Battle of Waterloo of 1815.  The second is that of John Shannon DSO DFC RAAF, a 20 year-old squadron leader who, as a member of one of bomber crew, survived the ‘Dam Busters Raid’ over Germany in 1943.

One other item is worth a small mention with regard to the churchyard.  At the east end is a Cedar tree.  It was brought back from the Lebanon in 1864 by John Lomax Gibbs and grown entirely from seed. 

The Victorian façade of St. Michael and All Angels is only one small part of the timeline of its historical past.  How many other age-old secrets are yet to be revealed?

Other village churches in the series include: Charwelton (Northamptonshire),

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The Peruvian Indians assembled the ship under the instruction of a Scottish engineer and it was finally put into service in 1874 as a ferry boat, crossing from Puno in Peru to La Paz in Bolivia, which was a 50 miles trip. 

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It is now used as a floating warehouse by the Peruvian navy. It was replaced by the Ollanta which was built in Hull, England in 1931, dismantled for transportation and then reassembled at the lake.

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Titicaca is the largest lake in South America at 118 miles, or 190 kilometres long and it covers an area of 9065 square kilometres, or three thousand five hundred square miles. The maximum depth is 275 metres, or nine hundred and three feet.  Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela is much larger that Titicaca but it is not strictly speaking a lake, but just an almost land-locked bay of the Caribbean Sea.  

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It is fed by melt water from glaciers and rainfall, and has five main river systems which drain into it; the largest by volume of water is the River Ramis. There are also another forty one streams running down into Titiaca.

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The lake itself has forty one islands, some of which are inhabited.  It also has a group of around forty artificial islands made from floating reeds and inhabited by people known as the Uros. Their original purpose was a defensive one so that if the people were threatened, they could easily move their island elsewhere.

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The name of the lake, Titicaca, translates as ‘Rock Puma’ and is thought to refer to its shapes. From the air it looks just like a puma chasing a small animal which some say is a rabbit.

Carlisle has changed beyond recognition during the past 20 years. It has gone from being a friendly little City to a busy, noisy environment like many of England’s other larger cities. However, it is still small in comparison with most.

Although I say it is a small city, which it is in terms of the actual inner city area, it is also the largest city in England because the city boundaries extend so far in all directions.

Carlisle is still somewhat cut off from the rest of the country in that it has no international airport. There have been plans to extend the existing local airport, but these have never got off the ground. So, if you want to fly in you have to go to Newcastle and use the train, or drive across the 90 mile gap to Carlisle. The other options are Glasgow or Manchester airports.

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There is the main railway line running throuh the centre, but train times are very restricted and if you want to travel late at night, or on a Sunday, you will find that there are few trains if any. For example, if you want to get to Preston on a Sunday you cannot travel until after 2pm. So, we are fairly well cut off from the rest of the country where transport is concerned.

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The City used to be a network of small shopping lanes, but now these have been knocked down and there is a large shopping centre in their place. Names like Long Lane, Globe Lane and Drovers Lane still exist and are a tribute to their heritage but the ultra modern New Lanes Shopping centre now stands on the site of the Old Lanes. Here there is a whole range of modern shops like Debenhams, HMV, Next, New Look, H&M, Faith, Quiz, etc. There is however, no supermarket in the Lanes. You have to go across the road to Marks and Spencer or Tesco for this.

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Apart from a range of shops, Carlisle has a cathedral which boasts the largest stained glass window in Britain, a Castle, and a number of historic buildings including the Prior’s Ceiling (at the Cathedral) The Guildhall and The Citadel. It is only a few miles from Hadrian’s Wall and parts of that structure are visible just a few miles away. Tullie House is a Jacobean Mansion which houses the museum and art gallery and is surrounded by historic gardens including a herb garden and a Roman Well.

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Various plaques in the City centre commemorate important historical events and eras. For example, there is a list of charges to made for entrance into the city which is attached to the old north gate. It lists various animals at 1d each and Scotsman at 2d each. At the bottom is a note that reminds visitors that Scotsmen must leave the City before nightfall.

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On the wall near the Citadel there is a plaque commemorating the last hanging in England and beneath the Town Hall in the square, you will find England’s first Victorian red pillar box.

Accommodation is easily found in Carlisle, with a choice of many hotels including the Ibis, Crown and Mitre, Lakes Court hotel and others in the town centre, depending on your preference and pocket.

Gretna Green is just a short drive away and Robert The Bruce’s Cave on the Scottish side of the border is another popular tourist spot. Out to the west is the Solway Firth with its mud flats, sand dunes and spectacular bird life.

Carlisle has everything you need including many nightspots and clubs and restaurants grouped together on the southern side of the city centre. You can find plenty of interest in and around the City Centre, and access to the lake District is easy by bus coach, train, or car.

Have you ever wondered how hard it would be to ride one of those strange looking two wheel electric Segway contraptions? It is a peculiar machine that some people look upon as they do the mechanical riding bull in Gilley’s Bar in the movie Urban Cowboy. We recently took on the challenge of a first Segway ride, and we are here to tell you – it’s not like a bull – it’s more like an escalator. 

Get out and try one

Our adventure started in Pacifica, California, just 15 miles south of San Francisco on scenic Highway 1. We dropped in on Silicon Segway, and talked with owners Joe Trimble and Jim Heldberg about how the Segway transporter works.

 It didn’t take long and we were involved in a brief training session, watched a how-to video, and selected safety helmets. Before we knew it, we were rolling Segways out the storefront door and preparing to take on the byways of beautiful Pacifica.

 The Silicon Segway shop is located in a great spot for training and tours. Just a few yards from the front door, is a piece of property that is ideal for basic field training. It’s a brick surface with a convenient sloping driveway and round cement barriers that make an excellent obstacle course during practice drills. 

Jim Heldberg was our tour guide, and he quickly had us up on our machines practicing all the basic maneuvers. Within minutes, we were sufficiently confident in our ability to ride a Segway that we moved off the practice pad and took off along an Oceanside trail.

The Segway is an amazing machine 

When you turn on the power, the Segway lets you know when it’s time to climb aboard. You step up, one foot at a time, and the machine automatically balances itself for your weight and proportions. You lean forward to move forward and backward to move backward. It should be more complicated than that, but it isn’t. 

You turn the stick right and you go right. Turn it far right and you will spin around in a perfect circle. Lean forward a little and you will spin faster, lean backward and you will start to spin backward. That’s all there is to it. 

After a very short while, the electric scooter feels like an extension of your body. You learn to adjust your speed by leaning forward and backward in a matter of minutes, and then away you go. Your forward top speed is 12 miles per hour, and the machine will gently pull back if the limit is exceeded. 

Jim took us for a tour of an old rock quarry, and up a sizeable hill with twelve switchbacks – and a spectacular view of the ocean. By the time we reached the hilltop, we were all confident in our ability as novice Segwayers. 

 If you decide to try a Segway 

Silicon Segway provides tours and salesof Segway transporters. Check herefor tour schedules. Joe told us, “Jim and I recently initiated a new Segway tour of Treasure Island, and it has fabulous views of San Francisco.”  We cannot wait to take it. 

After riding a Segway, you may want one for Christmas. New machine prices start at $5K+, and used machines are available. 

The Segway range is about 24 miles per charge, and it costs about ten-cents worth of electricity for a full charge – very GREEN. 

A Segway tour is great family fun, but check with the owners for age and size restrictions. We know there is no top age limit because Jim said, “So far our oldest tour participant was 92.” 

© Travels with Wayne and Judy (syndicated)

Photos © Wayne and Judy Bayliff  

It seems strangely mysterious when first seen that the impressive and substantial village church of Charwelton, between Banbury and Daventry in the Northamptonshire countryside, stands virtually on its own in a sea of grass almost a mile away from the village that it serves.

 However, the answer to the apparent mystery of the lonely village church is unfortunately an unromantic one.  Nevertheless, its story in terms of social history is an interesting one.

 Up until the end of the 15th century – around 1490 – two villages once stood in the area; a busy, thriving community known as Little Charwelton (later to be known as Church Charwelton), and the other known as Great Charwelton (later to be called Town Charwelton, and nowadays simply as Charwelton), the village that presently stands on the busy A361 Banbury to Daventry road.  From 1490 onwards the population of Little Charwelton suddenly began to reduce at a dramatic rate.  So much so that within a few short years it was completely and utterly deserted.

 The village up to this point was prosperous.  It contained a number of well-known and popular inns used frequently by coach travellers from Warwick and surrounding areas on their way to London.  In its time the main thoroughfare through the village was a busy one.

 So why did prosperous Little Charwelton become just another deserted medieval village?

 As is often the case in history, a number of suggestions have been put forward as to the reason for the demise of the village.  One school of thought maintains that it was destroyed by the Black Death, (1348-49), or the Great Plague as it was known.  Others state that the building of the medieval packhorse bridge, (which still stands at the roadside to this day), built in the 14th century on the Banbury – Daventry road, made Great Charwelton village made better business sense as traffic on this road increased, prompting the innkeepers and trades people of Little Charwelton to move villages. 

 But, another theory that probably has the most credibility is this one. 

 Just before the decline of Little Charwelton, sheep farming became extremely popular all over the Midlands, resulting in huge profits being made from trading in wool compared with lower profits from the sale of crops.  The landowner, who would have turned his land over to flocks of grazing sheep with only a couple of shepherds to employ, would simply have thrown the villagers, the majority of whom worked in the surrounding fields, out of their little cottages.  Every single building would then have been destroyed. 

The occupants had no rights whatsoever under English law, and would simply have been left to fend for themselves as best they could.  This theory, as harsh as it may sound, is borne out by the fact that this type of land clearance became the fate of hundreds of villages across England at that time, particularly within the Midlands area.

 Sadly there is little to show today that there was ever a village in front of Charwelton church, except for a few lumps and bumps in the ground.  But, by looking a little closer at the bumps, the area will give offer a tantalising glimpse of its past history. 

 Slightly raised areas of grass can clearly be seen where the bases of cottages and other buildings once stood.  Between some of these raised areas, narrow pathways that once ran between buildings are just visible as slight depressions in the ground.  But the most impressive aspect of the former village is the remains of that once-busy main road, running the complete length of the village, represented now as a deep, wide, grassy depression in the ground, worn into its present shape by centuries of use.

 Charwelton church itself dedicated as the Church of the Holy Trinity, and one of the finest in the area, has been a place of worship for at least 800 years, and records show that there was a religious building on the site soon after the Norman Conquest of 1066.  The church, with its sturdy tower and surrounded by its ancient churchyard exudes an air of strength and infinite longevity.

 An interesting facet on the outside of the building, on a south-facing buttress, is the presence of a circular scratch or mass dial.  Much smaller than the common sundial it is marked with lines etched into the stonework radiating outwards from the centre showing the times of the various religious services during the day.  A tangible reminder from the days when all churches in England belonged to the Catholic faith.

 Inside the church, after passing through the 12th century doorway, are memorials to the landowners of the time such as Thomas Andrewes, a wealthy merchant who died in 1496, and of the Knightley family who were influential throughout Northamptonshire.  These landowners, or ‘Lords of the Manor’ as they were more commonly known, would have been responsible for providing money for the upkeep of the church building and for the paying of the priest’s salary.

There is also a list of rectors’ names covering the period from 1221 to 1961 on display in the church.

 The baptismal font, near to which hangs a brass portrait of the 1468 rector William Smarte, is richly decorated with carvings of roses and oak leaves and dates from the 15th century; the wooden, canopied pulpit is Jacobean; the altar rails are 17th century; the candelabra is Dutch and the lectern is made from Spanish chestnut.  The church also contains an old parish chest made from solid oak that once held all the parish records.

 This beautiful church is well-worth visiting, and it would be hard to find a more charming and peaceful place in the whole of the Northamptonshire countryside than – the village church that stands in the middle of nowhere.

 Other English Village Churches in this series include: Clifton Hampden (Oxfordshire),

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The counts must have been an extraordinary set of rulers, one after the other. They are commemorated to this day by the Cenotaph in the La Collégiale church. In every legend, myth or story that refers to the counts of Neuchatel, they are called ‘the good counts of Neuchatel’. The last count died childless in 1288, and Emperor Rudolf I of Habsburg handed the county to the Count of Chalon.

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What started out with a deed of gift to a queen continued as a story of inheritances. The county of Neuchatel passed from Chalon to the Counts of Freiburg, the Margraves of Baden, the Royal House of Orleans, and finally to the Prince-Electors of Brandenburg and Kings in Prussia. The county was made a principality under the Orleans family. As the last transfer to the Prussians was done under pressure from the Swiss Confederation against 14 other contenders for the inheritance, Neuchatel was declared an independent principality (i.e. not part of Prussia) on the insistence of Louis XIV of France.

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As the Counts of Neuchatel had been gifted in administering the county, all families following them into the administration shared one common policy; they just confirmed the existing laws and administration and didn’t bother too much about any details. The Counts of Chalon concluded a treaty with the Swiss Confederation in 1306, leading to Neuchatel becoming a de facto part of the Swiss Confederation without being a member of it. This finally led to the curious situation of Neuchatel becoming a member of democratic Switzerland in 1848 while still being governed by the Prussian Kings as Princes.

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To this day, a Swiss citizen is not addressed as citizen, but as ‘Miteidgenosse’ (translates to ‘fellow oath taker’). After the Prussians took over, the King of Prussia was forthwith addressed as ‘our fellow oath taker’ up to his formal abdication as Prince in 1857. But it needed the good services of Emperor Napoleon III of France to bring that about without Switzerland and Prussia going to war. Things came to a head as Neuchatel’s citizens had passed a Republican constitution on becoming part of Switzerland, but Royalist elements had tried to overthrow the new government and declare Neuchatel independent.

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The Principality became part of France in 1795 for a short time as the Prussian ceded their rights to it to Napoleon. But the Vienna Congress of 1815 compounded the anachronism by designating it ‘a Canton of Switzerland and Prussian Principality’. When the Swiss Republics subsequently joined into the United States of Switzerland, the situation became nothing short of ridiculous.

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Neuchatel is a French speaking town. By general consent, it is The French Speaking City, actually. Anybody who intends to learn properly spoken French in all its beauty is sent to Neuchatel to do so, as they speak it without a hint of accent, as opposed to French cities that all have their peculiarities and accents. Famous people associated with Neuchatel are writer Friedrich Durrenmatt, Prussian General Bernard de Gelieu, failed Hitler assassin Maurice Bavaud, and musician Robert Miles.

For further information on the city of Neuchatel you may want to go to the official homepage of the city government neuchatelville.ch.

  The castle of Tomar with the Convent of Christ inside.

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Tomar was chosen in 1156 as headquarters of the Order of the Knights Templar and the Convent of Christ was founded in 1162. Gualdim Pais, the third Grand Master erected a keep on top of the hill. It will then be completed by a 16-side polygonal rotunda called “Charola”. This was the oratory of the Order in the XIIth century and the heart of the monastery. Its plan was inspired by the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the Mosque of Omar. The inside presents a central octogonal structure with altars all around.

The rotunda as seen from the outside. On the left, the Manueline church.

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The inner decoration of the rotunda, added in 1499 by King Manuel I, reflects the wealth of the Order of Christ whose headquarters are located in Tomar in 1356. The magnificent paintings and frescoes of the XVIth century featuring biblical scenes as well as the statues under the cupola were very carefully restored.

Inside of the rotunda.

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Under Henry the Navigator, Grand Master in 1418, cloisters were constructed between the rotunda and the Knights Templar stronghold. King Manuel I had the nave of the church rebuilt in a late Gothic/Renaissance style that bears his name: Manueline style. The architects Joao de Castillo and Diego de Arruda decorated the church and cloisters with a profusion of unprecedented Manueline decorations culminating in the Chapter House Window. This amazing window brims over with abundant motifs of ropes, chains, octopus and corals, all recalling the Age of Discoveries. It is even topped with the cross of the Order of Christ whilst two armillary spheres can be seen on each side and the architect underneath the window.

The famous Chapter House Manueline window.

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The eight cloisters show the evolution of art in Tomar. The Cloister of Dom Joao III by Diego de Torralva is the masterpiece of Mannerist style in Portugal and reflects the passion of the King for Italian art. The monks could reach the church trough the dormitory. The works began in 1557 and ended in 1591. 

Cloister of Dom Joao III.

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Cloister of the Cemetery where the tomb of the brother of Vasco da Gama can be found. It is decorated with “azulejos”, typical blue tiles of the XVIth century.

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The symbolic Portal of the Manueline church.

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On the East bank of the Nabao River, the Gothic church of Santa Maria do Olival (XIIth century) houses the tomb of Gualdim Pais who died in 1195, and other Grand Masters of the Order of Temple. A secret passageway is said to connect the edifice to the castle. It used to be the mother church of seafarers at the Age of Discoveries. It is in 1834 that the Order of Christ was extinguished. The Convent of Christ in Tomar is the most visited monument in Portugal and listed a World Heritage site since 1983.