The Order was established in Portugal for the first time in Tarouca in 1144, former Benedictine monastery. All Cistercian monasteries of the twelfth century changed their observance, only Alcobaça was founded again. During the twelfth century the most important foundations and numerous are the nuns: Lorvão, Cells, Arouca and St. Benedict of Castris, […]
Afonso Henriques made history because it had a well defined objective, promised Bernard of Clairvaux who conquered Santarém to the Moors, send to build a monastery for the Cistercian Order in Portugal, which has thus fulfilled. Date back long before that, however, the initiatives of King Afonso Henriques, to promote the defense of the realm, […]
The Order of the Temple had its origin in the East, with the objective of giving assistance to the pilgrims who headed to the Holy Land and the respective worshipping places. Therefore, the Knights of the Temple had direct access to these places of which the Holy Sepulchre, Jesus’ Grave, and the Dome of the […]
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 […]
