I’ve just returned from my beloved Portugal where I binged on historic sites. There’s so much medieval history to see in that country that ten days was hardly enough. The highlight was undoubtedly a trip to Tomar to visit the Templar castle high up on the hill overlooking the town. I hadn’t been here for five years and gosh, I’d really missed it.
DISCOVER: Castles with hidden Templar treasure
This time, I took my trusty iPhone 13 plus new gimbal and shot a film for all of you. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it. The castle at Tomar dates back to the 12th century and has seen many stormy events. That includes a battle in 1190 between a huge Muslim army that marched up from the south to take back Tomar from the Knights Templar. Against all the odds, the Templars managed to defeat this huge threat.
As you’ll see in the film below, I walked around the beautiful Templar tower – an octagonal structure that was loosely based on the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Many believe that the Templars would attend mass on horseback with the chaplain standing in the middle so that if an enemy was spotted, the knights could storm out and engage.
I then walked along the surprisingly intact walls that Templar knights would have patrolled looking out for trouble approaching on the horizon. Tomar was on the front line in the crusades that saw modern Spain and Portugal divided between Christian and Muslim rulers. The castle was one of a string of defensive fortifications the Templars built to repel the enemy.
Join me then in Tomar below and let me be your guide to its stunning castle!
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