Coimbra
On Wednesday we drove to Coimbra, a riverside city and home to the oldest university in Portugal. Our initial plan was to spend a week in Coimbra; however, we decided to modify our itinerary a couple weeks ago. We have been wanting to go to the Azores Islands and decided to scrap our week in Coimbra in favor of going there instead. We still wanted to make a day-trip to Coimbra and luckily it is only an hour from where we are staying in Nazaré. It is one of the larger cities we have visited so far and has lots of historical sights.
Our morning started near the University of Coimbra where we saw Sé Nova (New Cathedral). It was founded by the Jesuits in 1598.
The University of Coimbra is one of the oldest university in Europe. It was originally founded in Lisbon in 1290, but transferred to Coimbra in 1537 and located in a previous medieval palace. The campus itself is very beautiful and we were able to visit the Capela de São Miguel, Joanina Library, the Clock Tower and Royal Palace. The Royal Palace had a terrace with views of the town and river.
Capela de São Miguel
Royal Palace
Clock Tower
Mondego River
Across the bridge is the Mosteiro de Santa Clara-a-Velha, a 13th-century monastery with partially sunken ruins.
Near the monastery is Portugal dos Pequenitos. The park name translates to "the little ones of Portugal" and contains scaled-down versions of buildings, villages, and national monuments. I love all things miniature and this park was simply adorable!
Does this remind anyone else of Shrek?!?!
Yes, I made him sit there! Ha - so cute!!
We ended our day by driving 20 minutes from Coimbra to Conímbriga. Conímbriga are Roman ruins dating from the 2nd-century BC and was once a substantial town. You can still see the foundations of houses, baths, aqueducts, and a temple. There is also a small museum, Museu Monográfico de Conímbriga, where we could see artifacts which were discovered on-site.
Food:
- Lunch: Fangas Mercearia Bar
- Afternoon Snack: Pastry Briosa