La metamorfosi della Charola di Tomar: da componente difensiva a memoria del Santo Sepolcro

This paper reconsiders the origins of the Charola, the central chapel of the Templar castle of Tomar in Portugal, positioned on the weakest flank of the fortress and traditionally read either as a purely defensive structure or as a sanctuary conceived from the outset in imitation of the Holy Sepulchre. Through close analysis of its masonry, compared with that of the neighbouring Torre de Menagem and set against the wider fortification of the site, the discussion questions whether the building's military and religious roles belong to a single project or to successive phases separated by a change in function. The siege endured by the garrison at the end of the twelfth century and the contemporary loss of Jerusalem are considered among the possible catalysts for such a shift. Situating Tomar within a broader comparison of centrally planned churches associated with the military orders, from the Temple Church in London to the Vera Cruz in Segovia, the analysis explores how the reproduction of that same paradigm across the Mediterranean proceeded through partial and varied borrowings rather than fixed formulas, leaving the precise chronology of the Charola's transformation open to further archaeological verification.