My visit to Portugal in April 2017 encompassed some time in Central Portugal and a few days in Lisbon. My dear friends, who live in the center of this beautiful country took me to visit some of the most wonderful places in this region of Portugal, one of which was the town of Tomar in the district of Santarem.
The doors of Tomar town, of which there are many worthy of inclusion in a door post, were a delight to find as we walked through the narrow, Calcada or mosaic, paved streets, traditional all over Portugal. Tomar was established in the 12th century within the walls of the Castle and Convent of Christ, which sits high above the town. The centre of town is the Praça da República (Republic Square) and Paços do Concelho (17th century Town Hall).
Entering town, this striking church needed to be caught for posterity…
And then, doors to catch on every side of the narrow cobbled streets…
and then into the main square, cobbled, lined with old buildings and the 15th/16th century Church of São João Baptista in the middle. The bronze statue represents Gualdim Pais, founder of the town.
This flower-bedecked headress is worn during The Festa dos Tabuleiros (Festival of the Trays). This festa is one of the most important religious festivals in Portugal. Held every 4 years during June or July in the town of Tomar, the tabuleiros, which the girls carry in the procession are decorated with symbols of the Holy Spirit: on top of the tray there is a pigeon and the crown, and from the top to the bottom, 30 loaves of bread, colourful paper flowers and ears of corn
and after the admiration of the square and church, a little stroll down the main street, some traditional tiled buildings to add into the visual feast…
We needed a little refreshment in the square before heading up to Tomar Castle and Convent of the Order of Christ (saved for a future post). I needed to buy my dear friends a big drink after their graciousness in indulging my door mania and where better to sit than this cafe in the main square, surrounded by beautiful doors, windows and pigeons!
And to end today’s post, how could I resist this opportunistic finale as we headed back to the car…
Linking with Thursday Doors, hosted by Norm Frampton. Pop over, hit the blue button and check out some of the other doors on display today…
Travels in the Middle East and beyond 
I love old towns and cities like this one. Exploring their streets is like a treasure hunt, although it appears you didn’t have to hunt very hard! You have a virtual banquet of great doors to offer!!
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Thank you, Joanne. Tomar was a delight to visit and the doors were amazing…
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Portugal is fabulous. You just reminded me to go and have a look at my photos from Portugal to find some doors.
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Thank you, Jackie. I was very impressed with Portugal, so many lovely places to visit and so many doors!
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That big church is stupendous, and the square. And I love those green doors at the top! In fact, all the doors! What a fabulous trip you must have had.
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Thank you, Susi. I had a wonderful trip, I loved Portugal, more to come….
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“Visual feast” is probably an understatement! An amazing collection of door photos here! It seems like Portugal has a preference for double doors (?) particularly tall narrow ones. It all looks very smart. And all the ironwork with the timber doors is a lovely touch too!
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Thank you! Double doors seem to be the tradition in the old buildings, they are so attractive aren’t they…
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Oh, my, what a treasure trove!! The variety of beauty constantly amazes me.
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That church is wonderful and my goodness is that town just a festival of lovely old doors or what? Some beautiful ones in this collection 🙂
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Thank you, Norm. Portugal was a grand doorscursion. When you start to write your doors of the world travel book, Portugal should be in it 🙂 !
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Wow, all these doors you caught!! The front of this church is a beauty in hiding (a few coats of paint, or cleaning of the stone is all that’s needed). The flowered head dress is beautiful, and the idea behind it is a lovely tradition!
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Thank you, Jesh. There were a lot of doors in Tomar! The head dress must weigh an awful lot. My friend told me the women practise for the festa for a long time to be able to carry the display on their heads. The next one is in 2019, I would love to return to see it !
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Portugal has so many lovely old buildings, doors and tiles. Great photos, I really like that one of the pigeons.
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Thank you, Jean. Portugal was a divine place to visit for its beautiful towns and architecture.
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Impressive collection.
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Thank you!
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Gracious! That is an incredible collection of doors! You must be door-rich! 😀 Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you, Joey. Door-rich is a good way of describing Tomar town doors!
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🙂
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The mother load of doors I’d say! And a crown to top it all off at the end of the day….brava! I think my favorite is the weathered, wood door with the yellow arch above.
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Wow! What a collection to share. I hope you saved a few for a rainy day post. The doors have such character and the church scene was fantastic. Wish we did Portugal when we toured Spain; now I see what we missed.
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