The Ambulatory viewed from the Southern Gate

The Charola was the Knights' private oratorium within the fortress. Its typology is similar to the byzantine churches which integrated the Romanesque with the Crusades movement.
It has as its base the design which develops around a central space in which the Templar rotunda had the shape of an octagonal prism - also known as tambor - which unfolded in sixteen sides vested in the ambulatory and thus closing the volumetry of the building.
During the reign of King Manuel I, the Charola will now function in the Main Chapel of the new conventual church. It will be enriched with sacred art including sculpture, wood and leather painting, mural paintings and pargets.