The municipality is composed of 16 parishes, and is located in the district of Santarém.

It was founded as head-quarters of the Knights Templar in Portugal in the 12th century and contains some of the most significant Templar monuments in Europe. Tomar was especially important in the 15th century when it was a centre of Portuguese overseas expansion under Henry the Navigator, the Grand Master of the Order of Christ, successor organization to the Templars in Portugal.
Tomar is a charming and historically outstanding town on the banks of the Nabăo River. It is dominated by a 12th-century Templar castle containing one of the country's most significant and impressive monuments, the Convent of Christ (declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO).

The main shopping street, the pedestrian Rua Serpa Pinto, leads to the Gothic Church of Săo Joăo Baptista, on Praça da República, the town's elegant main square surrounded by 17th-century buildings. The 15th century church has an elegant Manueline portal and inside are 16th century paintings, including a Last Supper by Gregório Lopes, one of the finest of the country's 16th century artists.

In the heart of town is a neat grid of streets, and on Rua Dr. Joaquim Jacinto is a well-preserved synagogue, one of Portugal's oldest, built in 1430. It was last used as a place of worship in 1497, when King Manuel I expelled all Jews who refused to convert to Christianity. It has four tall towers and a vaulted ceiling, and holds a small Jewish Museum named after Abraham Zacuto, a famous 15th-century astronomer and mathematician who helped build navigational aids for Vasco da Gama. It contains 15th-century Jewish tombstones and sacred items donated by Jewish communities around the world.

Not too far is the 17th-century church of Săo Francisco with a Match Museum in its former cloisters. It is an eccentric and interesting museum with the largest collection in Europe, displaying over 43,000 matchboxes from 104 countries.

UNESCO says...
Tomar was declared a World Heritage Site because:
"Originally designed as a monument symbolizing the Reconquest, the Convent of the Knights Templar of Tomar (transferred in 1344 to the Knights of the Order of Christ) came to symbolize just the opposite during the Manueline period - the opening up of Portugal to other civilizations."