My last monastery in Portugal, therefore its inevitably the least interesting. That's not to say that it was not a worthwhile site to visit. Nor is this convent lacking its own special charm. On the drive from Coimbra to Lagos, we arrived at the Convent of Christ in Tomar as it opened. Weather was overcast and the exterior of the convent is stark and uninviting. For me this convent felt evocative of those monasterial complexes found in the UK, lying in ruin. In this case, the "ruin" part of the convent was in fact, left unfinished. 

The Charola is the highlight, its splendor (arguably) unmatched in all other medieval interiors in Portugal. It really is stunning to walk into this space, I was not prepared for it. As I left this monastery, I felt fully satisfied. I had completed the "monastery" circuit in central Portugal and while I did not wish to visit another particularly soon, I was never bored. Nor did I regret a single moment in these beautiful testaments to medieval Portuguese life.