“Looking there and seeing that is devastating, just fallen trees. The forest was completely destroyed,” and “we had to close the forest to the public because there are many unstable trees,” Tiago Carrão explained to Lusa, at a time when a large part of the municipality, especially in the northern parishes, is still experiencing power outages and communication problems.

The director of the Convent of Christ, Andreia Galvão, explained that the monument, a World Heritage Site, also sustained damage, noting the destruction of a stained-glass window and the detachment of two gargoyles, but the primary damage was to the surrounding trees.

“In the morning, there were several fallen trees. The centuries-old cypress trees are very romantic, but they have little root system, and that was evident,” she said, noting also the falls in the monument’s historic orange grove, although she emphasised that the greatest damage was to the Mata dos Sete Montes forest, adjacent to the monument but managed by the National Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests.

“It was unexpected, and the force and impact of this was incalculable; it was three or four hours of terror,” the architect recalled.

The centuries-old forest is now a reminder of the damage caused by Storm Kristin, and the small chapel was destroyed by surrounding trees, leaving only ruins.

Built in the 16th century, the chapel served as a “summer house” where monks retreated to pray in the forest, protected from the heat, with water points.

The monument is one of the must-see tourist attractions in the Mata dos Sete Montes (Seven Hills Forest), where there is also an aqueduct that has sustained damage, mainly from falling trees.

“The area is very waterlogged and, for safety reasons, the forest is closed off because there is a risk of landslides or further falls,” explained Tiago Carrão.

However, the Polytechnic Institute of Tomar (IPT) has already surveyed the monument, and conditions are in place for its reconstruction as part of the municipality's planned renovation of the area.