Everything about Coimbra Portugal totally explained
Coimbra is a city and a
municipality in
Portugal, former capital of the country during the first dynasty period and home to the
University of Coimbra, the oldest academic institution in the Portuguese-speaking world. According to the
INE's
census of
2001, the city proper had a population of 101,069 and the municipality had a population of 148,443 inhabitants in a 319.4 km² land area. Over 430,000 inhabitants live in the
Greater Metropolitan Area of Coimbra made of 16 municipalities comprising a 3,372 km² territory. It is the seat of the
Centro region, as well as of the
District of Coimbra and the
Baixo Mondego subregion which are both located within it. Like most
university cities, it comprises a large number of dislocated students from outside Coimbra among its residents.
Coimbra is one of the most important urban centers of Portugal after the much larger
Lisbon Metropolitan Area and
Porto Metropolitan Area conurbations, and plays a role as the chief urban centre of the central part of the country. The city contains important archeological remains of structures dating from the time when it was the
Roman town of
Aeminium, such as its well-preserved
aqueduct and
cryptoporticus, as well as from the period when it served as the capital of Portugal (from
1139 to about
1260). In the Late
Middle-Ages, declining as the political centre of the
Kingdom of Portugal, Coimbra began to evolve into a major cultural centre with the foundation of the
University of Coimbra in
1290. The university, one of the oldest in Europe, attracts visitors from around the world due to its monumental buildings and history, making the city an important touristic destination.
Location
The historic city of Coimbra is located in central Portugal, 120
km south of
Porto, 195 km north of
Lisbon. One of Portugal's biggest crossroads, Coimbra is served by the
A1, the main highway of Portugal. It is set by the
Mondego River, about 40 km east of
Figueira da Foz, a neighbour coastal city with several beaches, summer and seaport facilities on the coast of the
Atlantic Ocean.
Nationwide importance
Having ceased to serve as the capital of
Portugal in the 14th century, Coimbra has nevertheless retained considerable importance as the capital of the former
Beira province, now designated the
Centro region. It is considered alongside
Braga the most important city of Portugal outside the
Lisbon and
Porto Metropolitan Areas, playing a role as the chief city of the whole central area of the country. With a dense urban grid the city of Coimbra is famous for its monuments, churches, libraries, museums, parks, nightlife, healthcare and shopping facilities, but above all for its intense cultural life, centered on the
University of Coimbra, one of the oldest
universities in
Europe. This relevance within the context of the coutry's cultural life can be seen in the large number of
writers,
artists and
academics connected with the city, which has thus secured throughout its history a reputation as the
Lusa Atenas (Lusitanian
Athens). For details, see the 'Culture' and 'Famous inhabitants' sections below.
Demographics
Coimbra municipality has a population of 148,443 inhabitants in a 319.4 km² land area, and 55,402 families (an increase in the number of families of 17.1% was experienced between 1991 and 2001). The city proper has a population of 101,069
History and landmarks
The city, located over a hill by the river
Mondego, was called
Aeminium in Roman times. During late
Antiquity it became the seat of a
Diocesis substituting the nearby city of
Conímbriga, which had been captured and partially plundered by
invading Germanic peoples in 465 and 468, adopting later the name of the destroyed city. After the Roman city of
Civita Aeminium, between 586 and 640, the
Visigoths altered the name of the town to
Emínio. The
Moors occupied Coimbra (
Arabic: قلمرية) around the year 711, turning it into an important commercial link between the Christian North and Muslim South. The city was reconquered by
Ferdinand I of León in 1064.
After being
reconquered by the Christians, Coimbra became the capital of a new County (
County of Coimbra), governed by the
Mozarab Sesnando (
Sisnando Davides), later incorporated into the
County of Portugal. In the mid-12th century, the first Portuguese King,
Afonso Henriques, turned Coimbra into the capital of the new Kingdom, a condition the city would keep until the year 1255. Many important monuments of the city date from this early period, like the
Old Cathedral, the Church of St. James (
Igreja de Santiago) and the
Santa Cruz Monastery, which was the most important Portuguese monastic institution at the time.
As early as the Middle Ages, Coimbra was divided into an upper city (
Cidade Alta or
Almedina), where the aristocracy and the clergy lived, and the low city (
Cidade Baixa) by the river, where most commercial activities took place. The city was encircled by a fortified wall, of which some remnants are still visible like the Almedina Gate (
Porta da Almedina). The most important work in
Gothic style in the city is the
Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha, founded on the left side of the river Mondego by
Queen Elizabeth in the first half of the 14th century. The Monastery was located too close to the river, and frequent floods forced the nuns to abandon it in the 17th century, when the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova was built uphill. The Queen's magnificent gothic tomb was also transferred to the new convent. The ruins of the old convent were unearthed in the 2000s, and can be seen today in the left bank of the river.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, during the
Age of Discovery, Coimbra was again one of the main artistic centres of Portugal thanks to both local and royal patronage. Coimbra bishops, religious orders and
King Manuel I supported artists like Diogo Pires (father and son), Marcos Pires, João de Castilho, Diogo de Castilho and the Frenchmen, João de Ruão and Nicholas of Chanterene, among others, who left important
manueline and
renaissance works in the town. Dating from this period are the remodelling (in manueline style) of the Santa Cruz Monastery, including the tombs of Kings
Afonso Henriques and
Sancho I, the renaissance Manga Fountain, the altarpieces and triumphal portal of the Old Cathedral, among other works.
The
University of Coimbra, founded in
Lisbon in 1290 by
King Dinis I, was transferred to the premises of Coimbra Royal Palace in 1537 by
King John III. Since then, the city life has revolved around the state-run university, and for many decades, several colleges (
colégios) created to provide an alternative to the official form of teaching and established by the religious orders in the city, which were later gradually discontinued through the times with the secularization of teaching in Portugal. Built in the 18th century, the
Joanina Library (
Biblioteca Joanina), a
Baroque library, is other notable landmark of the ancient university. The
Baroque University Tower (
Torre da Universidade), from the school of the German architect
Ludovice and built between 1728 and 1733, is the city's «ex-libris».
In 1772, the prime-minister of king
José I, the
Marquis of Pombal, undertook a deep reform of the University, where the study of the sciences assumed vast importance. The collections of scientific instruments and material acquired since then are nowadays gathered in the
Science Museum of the University of Coimbra, and constitute one of the most important historical science collections in Europe.
The first half of the 19th century was a difficult period for Coimbra,
invaded by French troops under the command of
Andoche Junot and
André Masséna. The city recovered in the second half of the century with infrastructure improvements like the telegraph, gas light, the railway system and a railway bridge over the Mondego river.
Apart from the monuments already mentioned, it's also worth a visit to the
New Cathedral of Coimbra (17th century) and the
Machado de Castro Museum, the second most important one in Portugal, housed in the former Palace of the Bishops. The city also houses the
University of Coimbra General Library, Portuguese second biggest library, after the National Library in Lisbon, and the
Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra from the 18th century.
Coimbra is also known for the reduced child-scale buildings in the
Portugal dos Pequenitos park, an educational
theme park built during the
Estado Novo. Its buildings are scale copies of Portuguese architectural landmarks and were completed in the
1950s.
Education
Coimbra has been called
A cidade dos estudantes (The city of the students) or
Lusa-Atenas (Lusitan-Athens), mainly because it's the site of the oldest and one of the largest
universities in Portugal - the
University of Coimbra, a
public university whose origins can be traced back to the
13th century. Nowadays, it has students from 70 different nationalities; almost 10% of its students are foreigners, making it Portugal's most international university.
Coimbra is also the place where the oldest and biggest university
students' union of Portugal was founded - the
Associação Académica de Coimbra (Academic Association of Coimbra), established in
1887.
Besides that, there are also some other schools and institutes of higher education in the city: the
Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra, a public
polytechnic institute; the
Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra, a public
nursing school; and some private higher education institutions such as the
Instituto Superior Miguel Torga; the
Instituto Superior Bissaya Barreto; the
Escola Universitária Vasco da Gama and finally, the
Escola Universitária das Artes de Coimbra, an
art school.
A large number of higher education students from entire Portugal chose Coimbra's higher learning institutions to study, due to the wide availability of degrees offered in different fields, the student-friendly environment of the city, and the prestige of many of its learning institutions allied to the ancient tradition of Coimbra as the historical capital of higher studies in Portugal.
The city has also a large number of public and private basic and secondary schools, among these some of the best-ranked in the country, like
Escola Secundária Infanta D. Maria (public) and
Colégio Rainha Santa Isabel (private), as well as several kindergartens and nurseries.
Economy
The wealth of the city rests mostly on its
University of Coimbra with about 23,000 students - the city has a total of 35,000 higher education students considering the other higher education institutions based there - but also in shopping, technology and
health sciences industry, administrative offices, financial services, law firms and specialized medical care. The city has many private clinics, medical offices and two large independent state hospital centres: the
H.U.C. - Hospitais da Universidade de Coimbra, which is a
university hospital, and the
C.H.C. - Centro Hospitalar de Coimbra, which is a
district hospital. Coimbra has also the regional branch of the national
cancer hospital - the
I.P.O. - Instituto Português de Oncologia, as well as a
military hospital. The
Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal, the state-run forensic science institute of Portugal, is headquartered in Coimbra.
Notable companies in the city area include
Critical Software which has its global headquarters in the city,
Cimpor's
cement factory in Souselas (CIMPOR Souselas), the pan-European service facility of
Olympus Corporation, the
pharmaceuticals companies
Bluepharma and
BASI, the
iron foundry Fucoli-Somepal, and several
ceramics,
food processing,
textiles and
wine industries.
Handicraft industry is well represented by traditional
tapestry and
pottery manufacture, and the surroundings of the city have besides
forestry, dynamic
horticulture production,
vineyards and
livestock raising. The
Instituto Pedro Nunes (Pedro Nunes Institute), a
business incubator, dynamically hosts several
start-ups which are usually dedicated to technology-related businesses and became independent
spin-off companies headquartered across the whole region.
Coimbra has a fresh produce open-air market on every 7th and 23rd days of the month at
Feira dos 7 e dos 23, and a large fresh produce market in downtown at
Mercado D. Pedro V. The
Baixa (downtown) of Coimbra has many
coffeehouses and
bakeries, and features several specialty shops selling all kind of products in typical old-fashioned architectural surroundings. Large commercial facilities with car park, include a medium-sized
shopping center (
CoimbraShopping); two larger shopping centers with
hypermarket,
restaurants,
movie theaters and several shops with a selection of some of Portugal's and the world's most famous and stylish international brands (
Centro Comercial Dolce Vita and
Forum Coimbra); and two
retail parks found on the fringes of the city, offering an alternative to the busy city centre (
Retail Park Mondego in Taveiro, and
Coimbra Retail Park in Eiras).
Culture
Coimbra fado
Fado de Coimbra (Coimbra Fado) is a highly stylized genre of
fado born in the city of Coimbra. Guitar player
Carlos Paredes and singer
Zeca Afonso, are among its most renowned and historical figures.
Orfeon Académico de Coimbra, the oldest and most famous academic
choir in Portugal, an autonomous organization of the students' union
Associação Académica de Coimbra, established in
1880 by a law student, and the
fado section of
Associação Académica de Coimbra itself, are important organizations in Coimbra fado promotion and preservation.
According to tradition, to applaud fado in Lisbon you clap your hands, while in Coimbra you cough as if clearing your throat.
Municipality holiday
Coimbra city holiday is the 4th of July. The Coimbra City Festival is in honour of the
Queen Saint Elizabeth, wife of the King
Dom Dinis and patriarch of the city. The religious festivities take place only in the even numbered years, but the city holiday's celebrations take place every year in July. Special attractions include the fireworks display during the nighttime march of the penitents. The devotion accorded to Queen Donna Isabel began soon after her death and in 1516 she was beatified for the Coimbra Diocese under
Pope Leo X, then for the whole country by
Pope Paul IV in 1556. The canonization process for Holy Queen Isabel was begun by Don Alfonso de Castelo Branco, in 1612. After verification that the corpse remained uncorrupted a crystal and silver urn was placed at the tomb for veneration by the faithful. The canonization ceremony took place in 1625 with
Pope Urban VIII presiding and the local population celebrating the event for a week.
Student festivals
Coimbra is also known for its university students' festivals. Two are held every year. The first one,
Latada or
Festa das Latas (The Tin Can Parade), a
homecoming parade, occurs in the beginning of scholar year, and is a welcome to the new university students (
Caloiros).
The
Festa das Latas goes back to the 19th century when the Coimbra students felt the need to express their joy at finishing the school year in as loud a way as possible, using everything at their disposal that would make noise, namely tin cans. The highlight of this festival, which now takes place at the beginning of the academic year (November) is the special parade known as the
Latada. After marching through the streets of the city the new students are
baptized in the Mondego River thus entering into the Coimbra academic fraternity. The 2nd year's students are awarded their
Grelos (a small ribbon). The
Grelo is a small, woollen ribbon with the color(s) of the student's faculty that's attached to a student's briefcase. Previous to this, at the morning the students must have visited the Dom Pedro V market where they must get a
turnip to sustain the
Caloiros during the day's festivities. Besides the tin cans they've tied to their legs, the new students wear all kinds of costumes made up according to the creativity and imagination of their
godmothers or
godfathers who are older students. They also carry placards with ironic criticisms alluding to certain teachers, the educational system, national events and leaders.
The second one,
Queima das Fitas (The Burning of the Ribbons), more important than the first, takes place at the end of the second semester (usually in the beginning of May) and it's one of the biggest student parties in all Europe. It lasts for 8 days, each for each University of Coimbra's Faculty:
Letras (Letters),
Direito (Law),
Medicina (Medicine),
Ciências e Tecnologia (Sciences and Technology),
Farmácia (Pharmacy),
Economia (Economics),
Psicologia e Ciências da Educação (Psychology and Education Sciences) and
Ciências do Desporto e Educação Física (Sports Sciences and Physical Education).
Although being University of Coimbra's festivals, other higher education students of Coimbra such as the polytechnic's students or private institution's students, are invited every year by the University of Coimbra students who manage and organise this events, to participate in the
Tin Can Parade and also in the
Burning of the Ribbons.
Leisure activities
Parks and gardens
Coimbra has many attractive and pleasant green spaces such as
parks,
playgrounds,
gardens and
forests. The most famous park in the city is probably the
Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra, the fifth oldest in the world. The city's green areas also include the
Mata Nacional do Choupal, the
Mata Nacional de Vale de Canas,
Jardim da Sereia,
Penedo da Saudade,
Parque Manuel Braga,
Parque Verde do Mondego and
Choupalinho.
Quinta das Lágrimas, a 19th century palace and estate, which was transformed into a hotel and golf resort, contains also a large park. Also noteworthy is the
Paul de Arzila, a
natural reserve occupying an area in Coimbra municipality (in Arzila), and in the neighbouring municipalities of
Condeixa-a-Nova and
Montemor-o-Velho.
Sport
Coimbra is home to
Associação Académica de Coimbra - O.A.F. (known simply as Académica), a professional
football autonomous organism of the University of Coimbra students' union
Associação Académica de Coimbra, founded in
1872 and having its current statute of autonomous football organization since the
1980s. Académica football team plays in the
BWINLIGA at the
Estádio Cidade de Coimbra.
Clube de Futebol União de Coimbra, another sports club with tradition in the city, owner of a football team which plays in the
Portuguese Second Division, is other important club of Coimbra.
Coimbra also has one of the largest
multisports clubs in Portugal: the University of Coimbra's students' union
Associação Académica de Coimbra, includes sections dedicated to a wide array of sports such as rugby, volleyball, handball, rink hockey, basketball, baseball, tennis, swimming, rowing, among many others.
The
Estádio Cidade de Coimbra (30,000 seats), which was a site of
2004 European Football Championship and includes olympic swimming pools (
Piscinas Municipais), as well as a multiuse sports facility (
Pavilhão Multiusos de Coimbra), located both near the stadium; the
Estádio Municipal Sérgio Conceição; and the
Estádio Universitário de Coimbra, an extensive sports complex of the university on Mondego's left bank, are the main athletics and sports venues in Coimbra. The
Pavilhão Jorge Anjinho sports arena (headquarters of
Associação Académica de Coimbra - O.A.F.),
Pavilhão dos Olivais, and
Pavilhão do C.F. União de Coimbra, are other places where some of the most important indoor sports clashes involving teams of Coimbra are played.
Major sports teams based in Coimbra include:
Transportation
The two banks of Mondego river at Coimbra, are linked by three main bridges: the
Ponte do Açude; the
Ponte de Santa Clara (Santa Clara bridge), which is the oldest, and the
Ponte Rainha Santa also known as
Ponte Europa, which is the newest one, finished in
2004.
The city is internally connected by an extensive
bus network, the SMTUC (
Serviços Municipalizados de Transportes Urbanos de Coimbra, Coimbra Municipality Urban Transport Services) and trolleybuses (the only city in Portugal having them). In the past, the city also had a
tram network (some are now parked inside a transportation museum).
Taxicabs are also available, and are recognizable as
cream or black and green (black car with green rooftop) taxis. The city is a hub for interregional bus services for all the country and abroad.
A light-rail metro system,
Metro Mondego, is currently being built, with opening expected for early 2009.
Coimbra has several rail stations. The principal station
Coimbra-B is on the main line between
Porto and
Lisbon. From this, a small spur runs to
Coimbra-A, the main station in the city centre. A small regional rail line also runs from
Coimbra Parque at the south edge of the city centre.
Coimbra is served by motorway
A1 which connects
Lisbon to
Porto.
A regional airfield is located in Cernache (
Aeródromo Municipal Bissaya Barreto), 7.5 km SW of the city downtown. With a 920 metre runway and
Flight Information Service until the sunset, this regional airport has all the fundamental facilities for private flights.
Accommodation
There is a wide variety of accommodation available, ranging from the
camping-park or one of the many inexpensive
hostels to the charming downtown
hotels and international chain hotels.
Climate
Temperature averages in Coimbra range from 7.2 °C (45 °F) to 27.95 °C (82 °F). Extremes in temperature range from -3ºC to 40ºC. Rainfall in Coimbra varies from 18.0 mm/month (0.71 in./month) to 486.0 mm/month (19.1 in./month).
Civil parishes
The municipality (
concelho) of Coimbra is divided into 31 civil parishes (
freguesias):
Famous inhabitants
Afonso Henriques, first king of Portugal. He is buried at the Santa Cruz Monastery in Coimbra.
Sancho I, second king of Portugal, son of Afonso Henriques. He is buried at the Santa Cruz Monastery in Coimbra.
Elizabeth of Portugal, wife of King Denis I. She was buried at the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha.
Pedro I, king of Portugal.
José de Anchieta, Spanish Jesuit, humanist and writer.
Anthony of Lisbon, Catholic saint.
Luís Vaz de Camões, Portuguese poet and author of the Lusiad.
António Nobre, Portuguese poet.
Al Berto, Portuguese poet.
Lúcia dos Santos, Carmelite nun and one of the three visionaries of Fátima.
José de Anchieta, Spanish Jesuit, humanist and writer.
Pedro Nunes, Famous mathematician in the 16th Century.
Carlos Seixas, prominent Portuguese composer of the 18th century.
Joaquim Machado de Castro, Portuguese sculptor of the 18th century.
Miguel Torga, Portuguese writer of prose and poet.
João Maria Correia Ayres de Campos, 1st Count of Ameal, Portuguese humanist and art collector.
Carlos Paredes, Portuguese musician.
Zeca Afonso, Portuguese musician.
Carlos Mota Pinto, Portuguese political figure, interim prime minister of Portugal between 1978 and 1979.
Sérgio Conceição, Portuguese footballer.
Zé Castro, Portuguese footballer.
Luis de Matos, Portuguese magician.
André Sardet, Portuguese singer and musician.
Filipe Albuquerque, Portuguese race car driver.
João Neto, Portuguese judo champion
Santa Clara, California, United States (1971)
Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany (1975)
Poitiers, France (1979)
Salamanca, Spain (1980)
Santos, Brazil (1981)
Aix-en-Provence, France (1982)
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (1983)
Yaroslavl, Russia (1984)
Fes, Morocco (1988)
Santiago de Compostela, Spain (1994)
Mindelo, Cape Verde (1994)
Curitiba, Brazil (1995)
São Paulo, Brazil (1997)
Beira, Mozambique (1997)
Ilhas, Macau (1998)
Padua, Italy (1998)
Dili, East Timor (2002)
Damão, India (2004)
Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg (2005)
Zaragoza, Spain (2005)
Source: Câmara Municipal de Coimbra (Coimbra City Hall) official website (External Link
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