18/10/2023
The hotel is located in the city centre, next to the Nabão River
The Vila Galé group opened the Vila Galé Collection Tomar, this weekend, a hotel that results from the refurbishment of two emblematic buildings in the city: the former Santa Iria Convent and the former Colégio Feminino.
Located in the historic centre, next to the Nabão River, the Vila Galé Collection Tomar features 100 rooms, outdoor swimming pools for adults and with slides for children, a children's playground, Satsanga Spa & Wellness with a heated indoor pool, a restaurant, and two bars, as well as a games room, library, chapel, gardens, event spaces, and a car park with a charging station for electric vehicles.
Worth an investment of more than 15 million euros and generating more than 50 direct jobs, this is a themed unit dedicated to the Order of the Knights Templar. It evokes its main figures and the region's tradition, as well as the Way of St James and the history of both buildings.
Built in the 16th century, the Santa Iria Convent of Poor Clares is closely linked to the legend of Saint Irene (Santa Iria in Portuguese), the city's patron saint. Born in 635, the beautiful Irene dedicated herself to religious life, but was the object of the desire of two suitors: Britaldo and Remígio. The latter gave her a drink that made her belly grow, suggesting that she was pregnant, so she was expelled from the convent for presumably breaking her vows of chastity. Feeling betrayed, Britaldo orchestrated her death and threw her body into the Nabão River, on the site where the convent was later built. Carried by the waters of that river and then by the Zêzere and Tagus, Irene's body was found intact near Scallabis (Santarém), which was considered a miracle.
