We saved this for the second day. And it's fortunate that we got a good knight's sleep.
Hand painted tiles from as early as the 800s.
The Cloister
We noticed that most everything is so ornate and carefully decorated.
The stairways on each corner that lead to the next level.
There were many arched walkways. Most were open to the center cloister.
I imagined this for Templars and for the friars who followed in the 1600s. These could be living quarters or contemplative windows for gazing on the gardens.
But then we got inside.
This was originally a Templar church, modeled after the temple in Jerusalem.
This chapel is 16 sided. Apparently the Templar Knights could take Communion on horseback here.
I mean.
You really ought to Google this. It's breathtaking. I just kept saying, "Wow".
We left the chapel to see how these guys lived.
The Manueline Window. (The Chapter Window) Did I mention the attention to detail??
Here's where you have your morning coffee....
We moved on to living quarters.
But the room is bigger than some of our hotel rooms this trip.
We thought that was really thoughtful until Tony mentioned that you could probably fit 10 guys in there.
The dining hall. Its gonna be a while before the soup is ready.
A little place to sit in one of the long arched hallways.
It's just huge. It must take a modern army to maintain it.
There was one more site to see. Back to the car.
We drove through the little charming town of Tomar. Can you see the Templar crosses in the sidewalk?
Almourol Castle. One more outpost on an island in the Tagus River.
Tony and Joe approve . Tony's gonna see if it's for sale and Joe can start getting it ready for the family.
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