The Sé Velha of Coimbra, an 11th-century Romanesque cathedral and one of the best-preserved on the Iberian Peninsula
The University of Coimbra, with the celebrated Sala dos Capelos and the Biblioteca Joanina, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Mosteiro de Santa Cruz, in the heart of the old town, where the first kings of Portugal are laid to rest
The University's Botanical Garden and the Miradouro do Penedo da Saudade, with views over the river Mondego
The Aqueduto de São Sebastião, also known as Arcos do Jardim, a historic structure that still shapes the urban landscape
about the place
Coimbra rises above the banks of the Mondego, on a hillside that commands the fertile plain of Beira Litoral. In 1179, D. Afonso Henriques granted the city its royal charter, confirming a status it already held in practice: a centre of power, commerce and influential clergy. It was here that the University of Coimbra took root — one of the oldest in the world — and that the song of Coimbra found its own distinctive voice, unlike anything else in the country.
