The University of Coimbra under moody lighting from our hotel rooftop
Skinny atmospheric streets
From the Douro Valley we need to get to Portugal’s other major wine region, Alentejo, for Margaret and Hajir’s wedding. But we decided to break that trip up with a two-night stop in the lovely college town of Coimbra.
Coimbra served as the capital of Portugal from 1131 to 1255, soon after the Moors were driven out. Today the University of Coimbra dominates the top of this steep riverside city. It’s Portugal’s most prestigious university — and one of the world’s oldest. It was founded in Lisbon by King Dinis in 1290, moved around several times, and finally established permanently in Coimbra in 1537.
We enjoyed touring the beautiful campus, part of which occupies the royal palace of the earliest kings of Portugal. From our hotel next to the campus, it was a steep climb down to the lower city to find restaurants and other sites, including the Santa Cruz monastery, where Portugal’s first two kings are buried. It made for a most pleasant stopover between wine regions.
A reception room in the royal palace that is now part of the university
This elaborate 2,000 pipe organ was intended for a much larger church, but ended up dominating the university’s Saint Michael’s Chapel
Restoration workers in Saint Michael’s Chapel looked like beauty stylists give the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception a makeover
The Great Hall of Acts was once the throne room of the palace and now serves as the venue for important university events. The upper walls are lined with portraits of the kings of Portugal. They should not be confused with the guy standing on a balcony. That is just Jim.
University founder King Dinis was exhumed and subjected to lots of high tech research to create this incredibly accurate and lifelike representation
Climbing down the steep and narrow paths to the lower city
The main square in the lower city was suddenly packed with gazillions of loud school kids
The square on a calmer evening
The monastery of Santa Cruz is the resting place for the first two kings of Portugal
A lovely lunch in a friendly tapas restaurant with just five tables
Diners in Coimbra are sometimes serenaded by students in black capes. That never happened to us, so I had to pose with the pretend singers.
We walked past an “American” restaurant. I guess that means they have hamburgers.
And I made Jim pose with a pre-hamburger
The evening view of the river from our hotel rooftop
Part way down the hill toward dinner we found this beautiful cocktail bar with sweeping views of the river. But why did they seat us here?