What to see / do
Fundição Tomarense - Núcleo Museológico
Tomar - Portugal
Eletric Central of Tomar - Museological Nucleus
Tomar | PORTUGAL
Church of Santa Maria do Olival
The Church of Santa Maria do Olival, in Tomar, is a temple that dates back to the 12th century. Dedicated to Santa Maria, the original church was built by the instruction of Gualdim Pais, Master of the Order of the Temple. It was meant to be the final home of the Templar Masters - the Pantheon of the Order of the Temple. Gualdim Pais himself was buried here.
Tomar - Portugal
Chapel of Santa Iria
The Chapel of Santa Iria is located in Tomar. It is dedicated to Santa Iria, the city's patron saint. It was built in the 15th century, having undergone a renovation and expansion in the 16th century, which added Renaissance elements to its style. Highlight for the Nuns’ Arch, an air passage over Santa Iria Street, which connects the Convent of Santa Iria to the old Palace of Friar António de Lisboa. Legend has it that Iria was a beautiful young woman from a good family who lived in this territory in the 7th century and that young nobleman Britaldo fell in love with her. It turns out that the young woman was determined to follow the religious life, so she refused the marriage proposal. In the convent, Friar Remígio, her preceptor, also surrendered to her charm and made inappropriate advances that werre barred by the young woman. Moved by wounded pride, the friar launched the rumor that the young Iria was pregnant, giving her infusions that caused her belly to swell. When he heard of the alleged betrayal, Britaldo could not stand the grief and ordered her death while Iria prayed by the Nabão River. Iria's body was taken by the river to Santarém, where it is said that the Tagus waters separated to reveal her coffin. Iria was found by monks who started her cult. Iria thus became the patron saint of Tomar. On October 20, during the celebration of the Santa Iria Fair, the day of her death is remembered and petals are thrown into the water, in an evocation of the martyr's blood.
Tomar - Portugal
Lopes-Graça Memory House;
Fernando Lopes-Graça was a famous Portuguese composer, conductor and musicologist, a prominent personality that profoundly marked the Portuguese culture of the 20th century. He was born in Tomar on the 17th of December of 1906, at Dr. Joaquim Jacinto Street 25. In honor of this son of the city, the Lopes-Graça Memory House was inaugurated in 2008, in the place where the composer was born. The Memory House works as a documentary and artistic center where we can get to know the life and work of this extraordinary Portuguese composer and intellectual. At the House, several personal objects of Lopes-Graça are exhibited, including his birth certificate, scores and musical pieces, testimonies of his vast musical artistic work. Here, visitors can read books, consult documentation and listen to music. In addition to having developed a solid musical career, Lopes-Graça has always been an intellectual opponent of the fascist and authoritarian regime in force in Portugal until 1974. He was therefore the target of repression by the regime, having even been arrested by the political police and forced to go into exile in France. Fernando Lopes-Graça is the author of a rich literary work with important reflections on Portuguese music, but he is also the author of a musical work of unparalleled quality. The house where Fernando Lopes-Graça was born was donated to the Municipality of Tomar by its last owner, Rui Manuel Dias Costa.
Tomar - Portugal
Church of São João Baptista
The date of the foundation of the Church of Saint John The Baptist, in Tomar, remains unknown, but it is believed that it was Gualdim Pais who ordered the construction of the primitive church, while the Castle was being built and the city arose. It is around 1430, with Henry the Navigator, that the reconstruction of the Church begins. But it is not until 1467, with King Manuel I, that the Church starts to look as we know it nowadays, following the intervention works that took place. The Church of Saint John The Baptist is a late Gothic style temple, completed in the early 16th century.
Tomar - Portugal
Synagogue of Tomar
The Synagogue of Tomar was built between 1430 and 1460, by order of Henry the Navigator, driven by the growing number of Jews in Tomar. However, it had a short existence, as it was closed down in 1496, at the time of the Manueline edict to order the expulsion of the Jews.
Tomar
Center for Contemporary Art - Municipal Museum
The Center for Contemporary Art - Municipal Museum was created in 2004, when Professor José-Augusto França donated a relevant part of his personal art collection - the result of several decades of work as an art critic and historian - to the Municipality of Tomar. The set of more than two hundred works, including paintings, sculptures, drawings and photographs, covers a period in time that goes from 1932 to the present day. Jorge Mascarenhas is the architect responsible for the adaptation project of the building where the Center is installed. It has an exhibition area of about 500m2. Outside, two large-scale works welcome visitors: the sculpture “Blue Tree” by José de Guimarães and the tile panel “Luminous Modulation X” by Eduardo Nery, both specifically designed for the Museum and offered by the artists. The collection includes works from different periods of the 20th century. The Center for Contemporary Art plays an important role in the dissemination of Portuguese art of the 20th century, functioning as a kind of compendium of what was done in Portugal in the last century, as it integrates many of the works currently studied in art schools, for this period.
Tomar - Portugal