The Order of the Poor Knights of the Temple founded the castle in 1118, and Grand Master Gualdim Pais completed the oratory around 1160. The round church, or charola, dates to the second half of the 12th century, with 16 sides outside and an octagonal core with an ambulatory inside, modeled on Jerusalem structures.
Manuel I sponsored a renovation starting in 1499 that gave the interior Manueline decoration. The nave was rebuilt from 1510 by Diogo de Arruda and João de Castilho, and the Chapter House Window is a major Manueline work. The article gives conflicting accounts of when the nave was built.
The Cloister of John III, in the Renaissance style, was begun in 1557 by Diogo de Torralva and finished in 1591 by Filippo Terzi, with four helical stairways. UNESCO listed the convent in 1983.
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