Coimbra, once the capital of the Portuguese Kingdom, is about two hours south on a regular train from Porto Campanha station. From Rick Steves:
The college town of Coimbra — just two to three hours north of Lisbon by train, bus, or car — is Portugal's Oxford, and the country's easiest-to-enjoy city. Its main drag — with glassy marbled stone underfoot, old-timey shops and bakeries winking their neon signs, and more locals than tourists — is a delight to simply wander. And the historic university, capping the hill above town, offers a busy slate of cultural attractions. When school is in session, Coimbra bustles with exuberant students. (Over the summer holidays, it's almost sleepy.) Any time of year, Coimbra's inviting Arab-flavored old town — a maze of people, narrow streets, and tiny restaurants — awaits exploration.
(Click on each photo to enlarge.)
The main attraction in
Coimbra is the University (a UNESCO World Heritage site). The students there must be very physically fit as there is a steep hill to climb to reach the campus. One has to pass the charming Arab-flavored old town to get to the top of the hill.
We are standing here outside the highlight of the campus, the
Biblioteca Joanina. It's the most beautiful library we've ever seen. The library is stunning and we didn't take photos as there are many
more beautiful photos already available on the web. We just enjoyed soaking-in the atmosphere. Let's hear from Rick Steves again:
The university's highlight is King João's Library (Biblioteca Joanina), one of Europe's best surviving Baroque libraries, displaying 40,000 books in 18th-century splendor. The zealous doorkeeper locks the door at every opportunity to keep the humidity out of this 300-year-old temple of thought. (Book ahead, as this popular sight often sells out.)The interior is all wood. Even the "marble" on the arches is painted wood, since real marble would add to the humidity. The resident bats — who live in the building, but not the library itself — are well cared for and appreciated. They eat insects, providing a chemical-free way of protecting the books, and alert the guard to changing weather with their "eee-eee" cry.
The next series of photos show details from
Saint Michael's Chapel (next door to the Joanina). From
Wikipedia:
The interior contains elaborate azulejo wall tiles, an altar with influences of Mannerism and an ornate Baroque organ.
Notice the Jacob's Ladder motif again for the altar (see a similar one in Bom Jesus in the Braga post).
This is a view of the city from the
Royal Palace.
From the University description: The building currently known as the Royal Palace was built at the end of the 10th century, serving as a fortress for the governor of the city during Islamic rule. In 1131, it became the first Portuguese royal household, the residence of Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal.
It was at The Royal Palace that we got to talk with Raquel, a young museum docent, who gave us some more insights about Portugal and its people. One fascinating tidbit that Raquel shared is that all students at six years old have to study English and at twelve years old, they have to study another language (French, usually, as Portuguese people can get along fairly well with Spanish speakers already). This explains why it is so easy to travel in Portugal if you only know English (unlike say in Spain, where English isn't widely spoken (yet)).
Time to have some science fun! Now we are inside "
the most important Portuguese Neoclassical building", the Laboratorio Chimico (Chemistry Laboratory). It houses one of the oldest Jesuit colleges in the world and a Science Museum (with a Cabinet of Physics, a Natural History Gallery, and lots of interactive modules). You can see below that I was especially fascinated with the color matching/color perception test (I made four attempts and got one correct.)
We passed this church on the way back to the train station, and I picked up a flower from the wedding being held at that time.
Another beautiful church.
And another.
Back at ground level.
A delicious dinner before heading back to our home base in Porto. We arrived just before a huge children's birthday party. The first floor was full and the second floor was fully booked/reserved but they managed to squeeze us in.
