Cirrus' Portugal Summer
Preface: The doomed Lisbon tram
Stop 1: Lisbon
Stop 2: Óbidos
Stop 3: Coimbra
Stop 4: Porto
Stop 5: The non-glamorous central province
COIMBRA!
If you're talking about Portuguese cities, everyone's heard of Lisbon (3 million), and most know Porto (1.2 million), but after that there's a huge gap. Coimbra, at somewhere between 300,000 and about a half-million, is the third largest metro area, and traditionally the third most prestigious city.
It's a university town, sort of the Oxford or Cambridge of Portugal. The university dates from 1308 and is part of the hilltop complex that dominates the city. The other part of the hilltop complex is the old royal palace, seat of the Portuguese monarchy from 1131 to 1290. The town spills downward from there along a series of spiral hillside sloped streets, like a real-life
Minas Tirith.
For the record, all that stuff is relatively new. The town itself dates back to at least Roman times, as do so many Portuguese cities.
But let's start at the bottom, where everyone approaching the city starts. Here is the Mondego River, lined with parks and cafe-filled esplanades. Yes, you can swim in it.
Approaching the center of the city from the river bank, you begin to get a sense of the sloping hillside and its pretty old buildings.
You cross the BRT...
... And enter Largo da Portagem, "tollhouse square," the entry to the city at the base of the hill:
From tollhouse square you enter Rua Ferreira Borges, the main pedestrian shopping street:
It's really great. And we have not even really entered the main part of the city yet. More from Rua Ferreira Borges:
At the far end of the street is Praça 8 de maio--8th of May Plaza. I don't know the significance of May 8th.
The square is dominated by the Church of Santa Cruz (1131):
The square itself is pretty fancy, but the second you go off it, the old streets start to look a lot less chic.
And now we find the entrance to the hillside town proper, the Barbican Gate. See the archway on the left?
Here we go!
Actually there are two gates in rapid succession. Once through the Barbican, you must then pass through the Gate of the Tower of Almedina
There's a little square just on the other side:
And now, my friends, on the narrow hillside streets, we are really cooking:
Quite literally cooking, actually. Quick stop for lunch--A Francesinha sandwich:
But let's keep going:
Yes, god, yes.
Halfway up the hill we reach the old cathedral (1139) and its cozy square:
Whoever sculpted these definitely knew exactly what lions looked like:
Behind the cathedral is a lovely gothic cloister.
I'd've liked to spend hours up here finding the right photography angles, but these aren't half bad.
March the rest of the way up the hill and reach the hilltop university complex. Some of its building at the summit are surprisingly modern:
But enter through the Iron Gate--a name right out of
Game of Thrones--and enter the Palace of Schools, center of the university, one-time royal palace, and true heart of Coimbra:
The sculpture is... not as refined as in newer palaces.
The plaza and its buildings command an impressive view of the surrounding city (yes, that's the old cathedral with the little dome):
This is King D. João III
Shall we see the royal throne room? We shall.
Royal chapel:
And, at last, the pièce de résistance, probably the most famous individual room in Portugal, the university's Joanina Library (1717). Tourists are not allowed to take pictures inside, so I'm supplementing here with a photo from the internet. All other pictures in this thread are mine.
From letsvisit.pt
Out of the library and back down the hill. We'll take the more local path this time:
Do not ask me about these cars.
What they do with buses in this town is crazy.
Back out the Barbican Gate and we'll call it a day.
Thanks for looking!
Linear Mode
