The Torre Sineira in Tomar stands apart from its church, quite literally. Built in the 1300s beside the Church of Santa Maria do Olival, this freestanding bell tower is an oddity in Portugal, where towers are almost always attached to the building they serve. It began life as a watchtower for the Knights Templar, who needed early warning of approaching enemies, and was later fitted with bells. Some locals maintain it once concealed a tunnel running beneath the Nabão River to the Templar castle on the hill opposite.

The church it guards was no ordinary parish. Known as the "Vatican of the Templars," it served as the burial ground for over twenty Templar Grand Masters, including Tomar's founder, Gualdim Pais, who lies beneath a modest stone slab dated 1195.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours trace the Templar story through Tomar, using the tower to explain how a military watchtower became a bell tower, and how a medieval order of warrior monks reinvented itself as the Order of Christ to fund Portugal's Age of Discoveries.