What a great place to take a break! But tomorrow I need to walk again. Fortunately, it's not a long day, only 13 miles. Cross your fingers.
Coimbra is most famous for the university. It was founded in Lisbon in 1290 and moved here in 1537. It sits on the top of the hill. Much earlier, this was a Roman city. Here are some university photos:
This is very classy. The students wear suits and capes. This was Saturday and a day not likely to be a class day. I suspect these poor, starving students were wandering around hoping to pose for pictures and extract a few coins from the tourists.
The cathedral in Coimbra. To me, it looks like a medieval castle. Construction began in 1162 on the foundations of the previous church and the first mass was held in 1184.
The next church is the church of Santa Cruz. This is where that part about Portugal having everything comes in: even the macabre and gruesome. Dona Inez de Castro was the beautiful young woman from Galicia (in Spain) and she caught the eye of Dom Pedro who vowed to marry her. Pedro's dad was King Afonso IV and he said no fearing Spanish influence. Pedro married her anyway in secret and when daddy found out, he had her murdered. When Pedro became king in 1357, he exhumed her body and crowned her corpse and sat her on the throne next to him in the church where courtiers were forced to kiss her hand. Hey, I couldn't make this up!
The church is one of the oldest remaining buildings in Coimbra. It was built in 1131 and is Romanesque style with a bit of Baroque bling added to the front in the 1700's.
Coimbra is a very interesting city to explore. It's all narrow streets and stairways. Around every corner is a shop or a cafe.
No pilgrims around to take each others picture. Alive and well. Thanks for all the emails. Tomorrow the turtle is on the road again.
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