Alvaiázere has no Templar castle, but it does have a documented link to the Order of the Temple: the town church and the land of Pussos belonged to the Templars and later to the Order of Christ.
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The Templars held the patronage of Alvaiázere's parish church, granted by King Dinis in the early 14th century, and the land of Pussos from 1231. When the Order ended, both passed to the Order of Christ, based in Tomar. Today you can see the cross over the church doorway, dated 1819, and the Fonte do Paço fountain in Pussos. Casa Pregueira is about 5 km from Alvaiázere and about an hour from Tomar.
In the early 14th century, King Dinis gave the Order of the Temple the patronage of the church of Alvaiázere — the rights over the church and its income. The official heritage inventory (SIPA) gives 1306; other sources mention an exchange with the Order in 1304.
When the Order of the Temple was dissolved, the church passed to the Order of Christ. The same inventory goes as far as describing it as the church with the greatest standing within that Order.
What you can see today: on the pediment above the main door there is a Templar cross dated 1819. The present building is mostly from later periods, with a Gothic chancel. The Templar link is one of ownership and protection — there is no evidence that they built it.
In 1231, the Master of the Templars granted the use of Pussos to Maria Pires, widow of Estêvão Pires, on one condition: when she died, the land would pass to the Convent of Tomar, the Order's headquarters.
Later, under the Order of Christ, the Commandery of Santo Estêvão de Pussos was created there. Its last commander was the 1st Viscount of Sousel, in 1782. Pussos received a new charter from King Manuel I in 1514.
The Fonte do Paço fountain in Pussos, on the Rota dos Cântaros e das Rodilhas walking trail, is described in the Alvaiázere town council's leaflets as part of the Templar heritage.
Tomar was the home of the Templars in Portugal from the mid-12th century. When the Pope dissolved the Order of the Temple in 1312, King Dinis created the Order of Christ in Portugal (1319), which took over its property. That is how the church of Alvaiázere and the lands of Pussos passed from one order to the other.
The Templar cross over the doorway, dated 1819, and the Gothic chancel.
The fountain of Templar heritage, on the Rota dos Cântaros e das Rodilhas trail.
The former headquarters of the Templars and of the Order of Christ, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Dates and details according to these sources (in Portuguese); where they differ, we give both.
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