Coimbra is an historical town of Portugal on the Mondego
River, about 50 km East of the Atlantic Ocean.
With a population of less than 100,000 and a dense urban grid the town of
Coimbra could fit inside the campus of some of the larger universities of
North America. The fame of the town rests mostly in its university, which is
one of the oldest in Europe and attracts students from around the world.
It has a large archaeological site with extensive ruins dating from the time
it was a Roman town called Aeminium. The cathedral of Santa Clara, built in
the 12th century in the Romanesque style, is still in operation.
One of Europe’s oldest university towns, it has kept its secular academic
traditions, as seen in the black-caped students, in the soulful tones of the
“fado de Coimbra” (traditional song sung to the sound of guitars by the
students) and in the Queima das Fitas, a boisterous celebration of the
students’ graduating year (Burning of the Ribbons). Overlooking the city is
the university, with its old tower and a sumptuous Baroque library. In the
adjacent quarters you will find the Old Cathedral (Romanesque) and the Machado
de Castro Museum, built over a Roman crypto portico. In the ancient streets, with
their medieval walls, arches and stairways, are the Santa Cruz Monastery, the
church of Santiago and the monastery of Celas. On the left bank of the Mondego
stands the Santa Clara-a-Nova Convent. Conimbriga, the
most important Roman remains, lies 10 miles to the south in Portugal.
Coimbra is famous above all for its ancient university: one of the world's
first. Coimbra consists of an upper and lower town. The bridge, Ponte de Santa
Clara, crosses the Mondego River and leads onto the main square, Largo da
Portagem, at its north-east bank. From here the lower town spreads out
principally along the busy and happening Rua Ferreira Borges to the next main
square, Praca do Comercio. A little further up Rua Visconde da Luz is Santa
Cruz, a Gothic church housing the remains of Afonso Henriques, Portugal's first
king, and worth a visit for its exquisite tiles.
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