The Church of Saint John the Baptist () is a 15th-century

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church in

Tomar Tomar (), also known in English as Thomar (the ancient name of Tomar), is a city and a municipality in the Santarém district of Portugal. The town proper has a population of about 20,000. The municipality population in 2011 was 40,677, in an a ...

, Portugal that was built by

King Manuel I Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate ( pt, O Venturoso), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as ...

and is of

Manueline The Manueline ( pt, estilo manuelino, ), occasionally known as Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese architectural style originating in the 16th century, during the Portuguese Renaissance and Age of Discoveries. Manuel ...

architecture. As its name implies, the church is dedicated to Saint

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

. São João Baptista, Tomar
Sacred Destinations. Retrieved August 7, 2012. It has been classified as a

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

since 1910.

About

The main church of Tomar is located in the main square of the town, in front of the Municipality (17th century) and a modern statue of

Gualdim Pais Dom Gualdim Pais (1118 – 13 October 1195), a Portuguese crusader, Knight Templar in the service of Afonso Henriques of Portugal. He was the founder of the city of Tomar. Biography Gualdim Pais was born in Amares (a town in the province of Minh ...

. The church was built between the 15th and 16th centuries and has many interesting artistic details, like the flamboyant Gothic portal, the Manueline tower with a 16th-century clock, the decorated capitals of the inner columns of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and several panels painted in the 1530s by one of Portugal's best Renaissance artists, Gregório Lopes.Online translation of
Igreja de São João Baptista
Tomar.com. Retrieved August 7, 2012.

Gallery

File:Tomar Igreja Matriz 0119.jpg File:Tomar 0284.jpg File:Portal Joao.JPG

References

External links

(Portuguese) Churches in Santarém District National monuments in Santarém District Manueline architecture Buildings and structures in Tomar {{Portugal-church-stub