Charola — A Templar Church Becomes the Heart of a Convent
Listen at the stop, then read the transcript and follow the sources behind the story.
Listen
Transcript
The Charola is the oldest major religious space in the Convent of Christ, built in the twelfth century with a polygonal central core that allowed worship around a focal sanctuary. Its form has often been compared with centrally planned churches associated with Jerusalem and crusading culture.
Later rulers transformed the interior with painting, sculpture and decoration, especially after the Order of Christ succeeded the Templars.
The result is a rare building where institutional change is visible without erasing the earlier structure. The Templar church did not remain “pure”; it became the ceremonial core of a much larger Portuguese religious complex.