What to see

All images were taken from Flickr. You are able to see them in full resolution at the Coimbra Flickr Galerie

With a very rich culture and history, dating back from Roman times, Coimbra is well known for its monuments, libraries, museums, parks and, especially, its university, as it is one of the oldest in Europe. While staying in Coimbra you must visit some of them, hopefully the following list will help you decide which:

·  The Joanina Library is one of the most important libraries in Portugal. Built during the 18th century, during the reign of King John V, it is located by the Faculty of Law, the old part of the University. The Joanina Library is divided into three chambers and contains over 200.000 books and at least 40.000 of those are dated up to the early eighteen hundreds.

·  The Machado de Castro Museum is one of the most important national museums. Located by the University, it opened to the public in 1913 and was named after the famous Portuguese sculptor Joaquim Machado de Castro. Here you can find sculpture collections from roman times to the 20th century, jewellery from the 1st to the 20th century, ceramic from the 16th to the 20th century, as well as other oriental collections.

·  The Arcos do Jardim by the Botanical Garden are a reconstruction of a roman aqueduct that used to convey water to the upper city of Coimbra. It was rebuilt during the reign of King Sebastião

·  The Old Cathedral of Coimbra (Sé Velha) is one of the most important Romanesque monuments in Portugal. Its building started around the 12th century when Afonso Henriques declared himself king of Portugal and chose Coimbra as capital of the kingdom.

·  In the heart of the city you can find the Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra. Since 1772, thanks to the Marquis de Pombal, the city of Coimbra has 13 hectares of pure green right in the middle of town and it can be visited by anyone everyday.

·  By Praça da República, the centre of town, there is yet another garden called Parque de Santa Cruz, popularly known as Jardim da Sereia. By the entrance of the garden there are three sculptures that represent Faith, Charity and Hope and at the end there is a fountain.

·  Connected to student life and academic traditions of Coimbra University is the traditional Fado de Coimbra (very different from the Fado de Lisboa), sung at night, mostly by men and always dressed in the academic outfit (traje académico). Most songs are about student love, the love of Coimbra and how much it will be missed when they are gone. You can have a flavour of fado in a few bistro and night clubes, such as A Capella or Diligência.