Coimbra

Coimbra is a city and municipality in the Coimbra district, situated on the north bank of the Mondego river in central Portugal. It is one of the oldest cities in Portugal and was the country’s capital in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The University of Coimbra, founded in 1290, is one of the oldest universities in continuous operation in the world, and its hilltop campus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with the city’s historic centre, defines the city’s skyline.

The Sé Velha, the Old Cathedral of Coimbra, is one of the finest Romanesque buildings in Portugal, its twelfth-century facade and crenellated roofline combining ecclesiastical and defensive architecture in a manner characteristic of the Reconquista period. The Baroque library of the university, the Biblioteca Joanina, is among the most ornate interiors of its type in Europe.

For pilgrims on the Camino Português, Coimbra is the most significant city between Lisbon and Porto, and many pilgrims begin or re-join the route here. The crossing of the Mondego at Coimbra is a landmark moment on the Portuguese Camino.