Coimbra

October, 2014

     Last year, around this time, I went back to travel, this time to one city in the Central Region of Portugal: Coimbra, with Erasmus students. I had passed by this city on several occasions (some happier than others), but had never visited, truly, the city and discovered its charms.

     That said, it is now a year since I decided to venture into the streets and alleys, courtyards, stairs and medieval arches that form part of it, and may now enjoy the charm of the town of doctors and (also) love.

    Taking as a starting point, the doctors, let me give you a little lesson in history: Coimbra is a historical university town because of its university, founded in 1290 by King Dinis (the first university in Portugal), bathed by Mondego river (where the freshmen are baptized). Having been, on June 22, 2013 considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Also the fado of Coimbra is linked to academic traditions and is characterized by a guitar with a structure, configuration and proper tuning.

      Still talking about academic traditions, one of the events that Coimbra has to offer is the Trellis or "Festa das Latas" (for those who are Festival Goer) and the imposition of insignia, which take place at the beginning of each school year. The trellises began in the nineteenth century when students expressed their joy with noise, using all objects in particular cans.

      Speaking a little more of the city, this is taken as a Romanesque city, knowing the forbidden love of Pedro and Inês, one of its most striking episodes (when talking about Quinta das Lágrimas, I will tell you their history).

      Being a city with so many years, it has a lot to see (again I advise you to wear comfortable shoes), including places like the Garden Arches, the Old Cathedral, the Botanic Gardens, the Monastery of Santa Clara, Manga Garden, the Baroque Library, the Portugal for the Little Ones, Quinta das Lágrimas, the Palace of Schools and right near Coimbra, the ruins of Conímbriga. These are spaces / significant monuments which carry with them a lot of history, which makes them majestic, charming places, and I will talk a bit more about some of them, with some curiosities.

     I will now tell you a little bit of some of the monuments that already named, and who had the opportunity to have visited.

The Baroque Library: eighteenth century, located in the Palace of Schools of the University of Coimbra; It presents a style called by Rococo (in history classes, this name always gave rise to joke). Its construction began in 1717 and culminated in 1728, being recognized as one of the most original and spectacular Baroque libraries in Europe (after all were 11 years of work).

Aqueduct of San Sebastian also known as Garden Arches located next to the Botanical Garden, whose history dates back to Roman times, but the current, dates from the sixteenth century under the reign of King Sebastian, and is a national monument since 1910.

 

Manga Garden is one of the first Renaissance architectural works in Portugal, with their evocative structure of the Source of Life.

Botanical Garden has about 13.5 hectares, has several collections of flora and is also equipped with a library, herbarium, botanical museum and laboratories.

The Old Cathedral is one of the Romanesque style buildings, whose construction took place after the Battle of Ourique (1139) when D. Afonso Henriques declared himself King of Portugal and chose this city to be capital of the Kingdom.

The Palace of the Schools it is an architectural complex harboring the historical core of the University of Coimbra, having been built over many years, and was Royal Palace from the reign of D. Afonso Henriques to the sixteenth century. The Palace encloses some points of interest, such as the Iron Gate (destined to solemnize the entrance of the campus, and was conceived as a triumphal arch) and the University Tower (built between 1728 and 1733, and the clock tower always played an important role in the university everyday life - the goat - to the extent that is associated with sound signals serving as clock to all students).

With regard to the ruins of Conimbriga, the Quinta das Lágrimas and Portugal for the Little Ones, will be for further posts. But I hope that when visiting the beautiful Coimbra your able to enjoy the beautiful scenery and all the history that is part of it.