The guided tour, scheduled for 9 pm on 24 September, as part of the European Heritage Days, marks the integration of the cloisters into the visitor circuit after the conservation and restoration work carried out in recent months.

The Convent of Christ, a World Heritage monument in Tomar, in the district of Santarém, plans to open the cloisters of Santa Bárbara, D. João III and Lavagem this month, renovated under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).

24 September initiative will focus primarily on the Main Cloister, or Cloister of King John III, allowing for an interpretative reading of the space after the intervention and also through the new lighting installed, intended to enhance the architectural and artistic reading of the monument.

The new lighting is part of a broader project to enhance the space through lighting design, which also includes the Charola and the Manueline Nave.

During the night visit, the public will also be able to appreciate the new lighting that enhances the sculptural ensemble of the Chapter Room Window, visible from the Cloister of Santa Bárbara.

Executed by Diogo de Arruda in the early 16th century, the famous Manueline window occupies the west facade of the church and presents a composition with a strong symbolic charge, marked, among other elements, by ropes, chains, the armillary sphere and the Cross of Christ.

According to the management of the Convent of Christ, the visits aim to present the Main Cloister in its "renewed fullness" and reveal new aspects of its construction, as well as the cultural, artistic, and religious context that marked its building.

Gabriel Pereira, a doctoral candidate in Art History, will guide the visits, with new sessions scheduled for Friday, the 25th, at 10:30 am and 4 pm, with free admission upon registration.

The reopening fulfils the forecast given earlier this month to Lusa by the director of the Convent of Christ, Andreia Galvão, who indicated September for the full restoration of the cloisters to the visitor circuit and October for the completion of the work in the Terreiro de Armas.

The intervention in the cloisters of Santa Bárbara and D. João III represents more than €1.7 million, while the work in the Lavagem Cloister, areas of the Paço Henriquino and Terreiro de Armas exceeds €1.5 million.

Work on the Terreiro de Armas continues, as does the project to create a museum on the ground floor of the Lavagem Cloister, which should create a new exhibition space and integrate part of the collection gathered by the Union of Friends of the Monuments of the Order of Christ.

The Convent of Christ initially received €5.2 million in PRR funding for interventions in the cloisters and the rehabilitation of the Henriquino Palace, Alcáçova/Castle, and garden, with part of the program reformulated during execution to safeguard heritage elements identified during the works.

Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983, the Convent of Christ is the result of a construction process that began with the Templar castle in the 12th century, with Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline, Renaissance, Mannerist, and Baroque elements added over several centuries.

The monument received 350,813 visitors in 2025, 1,412 more than the previous year, maintaining its position among the country's most visited cultural sites.