Coimbra, Portugal
I stayed in the Vila Juliette Guesthouse. Very nice room, pleasant hosts, they offered a good breakfast for 10€. Parking was difficult, however. Rather annoyed with Booking.com; when I use “free parking”/parking as a filter, I expect parking, not just, you may have street parking, if you’re lucky.
There are a series of steep roads and stairs leading to the lower town. I walked down both days.
Recommendations
- I started with a visit to the Municipal Market D. Pedro V. Huge market with a variety of food, vegetables, spices, and more.
- I continued to the beautiful Santa Cruz Church. I visited the sacristy, choir, sanctuary. So much larger than expected from viewing the facade.
- I visited the Old Cathedral, or Se Velha, financed by King Alfonso Henriques, Portugal’s first king. It was completed in 1184. There is an amazing altar. A visit to the convent is included.
- I walked down to the pedestrian bridge across the Mondego, Ponte Pedonal Pedro e Inês and through the lovely parks Parque do Choupalinho, on the opposite side of the river, and Parque da Cidade Manuel Braga when walking back up town.
The next morning I had booked the walking tour, Free Tour Downtown, Historical Center, and University Tour with guide, João Mendes. We met at the large central square, Largo da Portagem.
- We walked through Praca do Comercio.
- We visited Saint Tiago, the Romanesque church built at the end of the 12th c.
- We went to Porta de Barbaca or Barbican Gate and the Torre de Almedina, or Al Medina, Arabic for town. The city walls were built in the 11th c. by Arab ruler Almansor, with only 3 gates for access. The arched gateway, including the tower, is the only gate left.
- We continued up the hill to the Old Cathedral, Sé Velha, hearing some of that long history. Joao showed us markings on the stones, made by the construction workers of the cathedral, including names, messages, even Arabic writing. He also stopped to show us the 1000 year old olive tree in back.
- Continuing up the hill we passed the museum and talked about the old Roman city of Aeminium.
- We made a short stop at the New Cathedral, the Sé Nova, “only” 400 years old, before visiting the university.
- The oldest university in Portugal, and one of the oldest in the world, Universidade Coimbra, was founded by Dom Joao III. Joao took us into the large courtyard with the Royal Palace, the Capela de Sao Miguel, and the library. He told us the university was originally established in Lisbon in 1290, then moved to Coimbra in 1308. It moved back and forth between Lisbon and Coimbra several times with different kings but has been in Coimbra permanently since 1537. It was originally established in just the Royal Palace building but has greatly expanded since then; the university occupies most of the hill with buildings for chemistry, mathematics, biology, medicine, humanities.
- We went to the statue of Dom Dinis and the monumental steps, or Escadas Monumentais da Universidade de Coimbra.
- We also saw the Aqueduto de São Sebastião; locally known as the Arcos do Jardim or the “Garden Arches”, because it’s the entrance to the Botanical Gardens. Built in 1570 by Dom Sebastião to supply water to the hill using the layout of an old Roman aqueduct.
- We visited the Botanical Gardens created in 1772. They were created to support and house plants for the teaching of medical sciences at the university. Thirteen acres, from the British style greenhouse, to the Classic Gardens, Bamboo Garden, Thematic Flowerbeds and wooded areas. Beautiful. I went back briefly later but still would like to spend more time here.
Lorna, the other guest on the walk, and I stopped to buy library tickets, which include the chapel, royal palace and chemistry lab, while walking by the ticket counter during our tour. Tickets to the library are timed entry and can get booked up.
After visiting the garden, Joao normally says he returns with participants to Largo da Portagem but we said goodbye just outside the courtyard entrance.
- The Joanine Biblioteca, founded in 1717, is home to more than 60,000 books, many historical documents, maps, and first editions, dating from the 15th to 18th c. It is a national monument. The building is three floors. We entered on the lowest level, a former prison for students and professors until 1782. The middle floor was both guard room for the prisoners and a book depository for preservation and restoration. It was only included in tourist visits in November 2010. The main floor, the Noble Floor, is 3 rooms. It has incredible architectural details and furnishings. No pictures allowed. I did get a postcard from the gift shop but the photos below are from their website. For 250 years, bats have lived in the library to control small insects that could damage the books. Each evening the staff has to cover the tables with leather towels to protect them from bat droppings. Timed tickets are required.
- After leaving the library, we visited the Capela de Sao Miguel. Small, beautiful space. The large door on the courtyard is closed off, and we entered from inside the corridor. The signs in the courtyard are a little confusing as they point the opposite direction from the side corridor.
- We also used our tickets to visit the Palacio Real or Royal Palace. From the 10th c. We visited the armory, the Great Hall of Acts, or Throne Room, and the Private Exam Room. This was the King’s chambers and then was where doctoral candidates defended their theses. Huge portraits of the university’s rectors line the walls. Very intimidating place, the doors would be locked and the student wouldn’t leave all day. There is a beautiful balcony with great views of the courtyard.
- After finishing at the university, we visited the New Cathedral, we both wanted to see inside. Another beautiful church, only 1€.
Museum - We then went to see the Roman ruins at Museu National de Machado de Castro. What a fantastic museum. The lowest levels are Roman ruins from the city of Aeminium. We ran into a museum worker who showed us two old photographs of prisoners recently discovered. They were forced to wear bags over their heads to hide their identity, never allowed to remove them. Laws were updated, the second photo is the prisoners with their faces uncovered. There are larger photos, almost ghostly, created by an artist, of prisoners throughout the ruins. There are many wonderful exhibits, Roman artifacts, religious icons, statues, paintings, and much more. We didn’t have hours to see everything, but I would have loved another hour to see a few more rooms. If I return to Coimbra it will be to see this museum again. They kicked us out at 1800, we were the last in the museum, visiting late afternoon after the university.
We tried visiting the gardens again, wanting to walk through them on the way to the lower city but it was after 1730 and they were closing; we revisited the museum for a short time before they kicked us out, too. We returned to Largo da Portagem the same way we walked up, past the Old Cathedral, the Torre Almedina. We crossed the Mondego River over the Ponte de Santa Clara for dinner and drinks at Epicura. We both took Bolts back to our rentals. It had been a long day.
I saw the highlights of Coimbra, but could definitely return for several more nights.
Restaurants
- Café Restaurante Nicola de Coimbra I had a second Francesinha. More meat, chorizo, etc, too much, and I didn’t like it nearly as much as the first one I had. Friendly service though, and nice outside seating on Rua Ferreira Borges, main pedestrian street.
- I walked across the river to try Epicura Craft Beer House for some local beer, Lorna and I shared their nachos and hummus, too.
- I stopped in Doce Meu after dinner at Nicola just based on their display window. It was hard to choose from a huge selection, everything looked good, but I had their chocolate cheesecake.
** All photos property of Lisa, except where indicated. Not to be copied or reproduced. **