Coimbra, an old Portuguese college town

Between Porto and Lisbon is the cute college town of Coimbra, settled on a hill overlooking a small river called Rio Mondego. It is a town famous for the University of Coimbra that was established in 1290. The town itself was pretty small, with not too many sights and even less tourists, but it more than made up for it in a sizeable student population.

The central commercial district of the city is a maze of winding streets and randomly placed plazas. There are a lot of hidden shops and restaurants tucked away in little corners, alleyways, and places you wouldn’t expect. At one of these hidden away restaurants filled with male old-timers passionately discussing soccer (somehow Vince communicated that he thought Luis Figo was good and understood that they agreed and thought Cristiano Ronaldo was so-so), Vince took a chance and ordered something we weren’t sure what it was. After two bites it was quite clear that a lot of it was going to waste. We found out that it was pig liver. Thankfully, all Portuguese dishes come with a huge side of fries.

This is the main square in Coimbra. In front, is the main shopping area, then moving up the hill to the right is the university and houses. Behind us is the river that splits the city in two.

We crossed the river and visited the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha that was built starting in 1286. It was created by the Portuguese Queen Elizabeth who was canonized for her pious ways, but it suffered from continuous flooding. In fact, a lot of it was still under water until recently. What you see in the picture is the ruins of the monastery and the adjoining church. You can walk inside the church, which has a missing wall at one end of it. The visitor’s center has a lot of artifacts recovered from the restoration efforts.

This is a view back towards the main part of town. It’s a pretty sight with the buildings crawling up the hillside.

We crossed back on a modern pedestrian bridge that had these colored glass panels. Looking out we noticed a guy walking in the middle of the river, which we thought was significantly deeper until that point.

On both sides of the river are some nice green spaces. Sitting in one of them was this giant astro-turf bear.

In the middle of the city through winding, inclined streets sits the Almedina Tower. It was built in the 11^th century for defensive purposes as part of the 2km of walls that once surrounded the city. This was the main entrance to the High Quarter or Old City.

This is a nice open plaza in front of the Monastery of Santa Cruz, which was founded in 1131. One of the interesting features is a triumphal arch built in front in the 19^th century.

Portugal is definitely more affordable than other Western European countries. We submit 69 cents for a liter of boxed wine is evidence.

On the other side of the river, and up the hill from the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha is the Santa Isabel Church. The crystal tomb St. Elizabeth is here set in an elaborate alter.

Back on the main city center side of the river and up the hill sits a complex of buildings that make up The University of Coimbra. There are 20,000 students and they are everywhere, several of them in Harry Potter like capes; we never figured out who got to wear them. The gate above is the main entrance to the old part of the college which is housed in what used to be a royal palace. Stepping inside is a large courtyard, one side is the view below with the bell tower.

The most impressive part of the college is the Biblioteca Joanina, a Baroque Library built between 1717 and 1728. It houses over 200,000 books from the 16^th to 18^th Century. It was designed like a vault to preserve books and the external walls are over 6 feet thick. Other counter measures include shelves made entirely of dense oak and a colony of bats that live there and feed on any insects that might enter. There are three openly connected rooms that are exquisitely decorated from floor to ceiling. It is one of the most impressive interiors we have seen on our travels. No pictures were allowed, so we grabbed these photos from online.

Another impressive room was the Sala dos Capelos or Large Room of Acts, which is used for academic ceremonies like commencements. This was once the Room of the Throne of the Royal Palace, the residence of all the kings of Portugal during the first Portuguese Dynasty (1143-1383).

This is the Old Cathedral, built in the Romanesque style in 1162. The Gothic cloister is the oldest in Portugal. Apparently, there is some nice tile work inside the cathedral ; we didn’t want to pay the entrance fee to see another church, but Vince peaked through the curtains and got a couple pics.

We ended our day relaxing and reading in their small, but nice botanic garden. In case you were interested, Vince was reading “The Life and Death of Democracy” by John Keane and Megan was reading “No Logo” by Naomi Watts.