Day 2 - Coimbra

Coimbra was beautiful.  It's a town of 150,000 and with the old town built on a hill with lots of small alleys. There was a Roman settlement here dating back to 100 BC.   I would have loved to explore for several days, but we only had an afternoon.  We drove in and parked along the river, and as recommended, we called for an Uber up to the university at the top of the hill.  

The large building with a clock tower sticking up at the top of the skyline is the Royal Palace of the University of Coimbra.  The palace was a medieval royal residence that has belonged to the university since 1537.  Immediately adjoining it is the Chapel of St Michael, and the Biblioteca Joanina (Joanine Library).  The picture above was taken from the bridge crossing the Mondego River.

The view above is taken from the university, looking at the bridge on the Mondego River where the first picture was taken.

A view of the fountain on the river. 

Up close view of the river fountain.

Court yard looking at the University clock tower, royal palace and chapel of St Michaels. 

This is the Great Hall of Acts.  It served as a throne room from 1143 - 1385.  The university rector now sits on the chair upfront for offical university events and celebrations.  All doctoral students conduct their dissertation defenses in this room.  I can't imagine how intimidating that would be!

King Denis was the 6th King of Portugal and founded the university in the 1200s.  His tomb was recently opened and a study done of his skeleton.  Using scientific methods, a recreation was made of what he likely looked like. Kind of creepy beheaded king, but an interesting description of the methods used to recreate his image.

The prison rooms dating back to the time when it was a royal palace were below the famous Joanine Library.  I was mesmerized by the vaulted ceilings.

I liked this view of the underside of the circular stairs. The low door frames had to be only 5' high.

We were allowed to take pictures in this part of the library, but not in the famously gilded part. They have just begun a 5 year project to digitize 30,000 volumes in the collection (with 20 million pages).  A pilot completed digitization of 300 books recently.

The library collection had two levels with 70,000+ books dating back to 1500s. The image above is from a post card.  When we entered, the lights were very dim and the shades were drawn.  What was surprising is that it didn't smell musty like most old libraries. We learned learned that the library had a bat colony living in the walls behind the books.  The bats come out in the evenings and eat the insects that damage old books.  They can also get outside for water and more insects.  The librarians cover up the large wooden tables with clothes each time to protect them from bat guano.  I don't know that they do about the carpets. 

St. Michaels chapel is also a part of the university complex.  The tiles and paintings were beautiful.

We got to hear a few notes from the organ as a technician was servicing it. 

This is the only place I've seen leather padded wooden pews.  We weren't allowed to sit, but I imagine they are more comfortable then the bare pews. 

After visiting the royal palace part of the university, we wandered several blocks over to the 'science museum' (ie Chemistry lab building).  It had been somewhat renovated recently and there were some pictures of before and after.  It was not much of a museum but did have some bits and bobs.

This is a stone balastrude looking over to a tiled stairwell in the science building.  Students from ages past have taken a lot of time to literally make their marks in the stone. 

One of the old (and apparently current) lecture halls. 

This very old periodic table was in the museum.  I was trying to figure an approximate date based on which elements are missing, but I haven't been successful.  We wandered through some other displays, but it was so warm that they couldn't keep our interest, although the room of curiosities with various oddities from the ages (conjoined calf, preserved snakes in jars, etc) was mildly entertaining.

We left the university and wandered downhill through the old alley ways.  I love old cities with these narrow streets. You never know what you are going to find when you turn a corner.  In our case, we found some locally produced specialty chocolate and some yummy gelato. 

If you look closely, this car BARELY clears the walls of the narrow street.  His driver mirror has about 1" clearance.

These musicians were performing Fado - music local to Coimbra and the university.  University students who are wooing a girlfriend will sing outside their window.  The tradition is for the woman to flick her lights on and off 3 times if the suit is favorable.  You can see the performers are wearing black cloaks. These are based on university uniforms that are worn for formal events.  Freshmen undergo an initiation ceremony before they can wear their cloaks. 

This 12 string guitar had metal strings and was picked for a sharper sound.  The accoustic 6 string guitar made a mellow accompaniment. 

After the Fado concert, we had dinner on the river and headed back to Porto. 

We've been lucky that the days are so long right now.  We've had the opportunity to see a lot of things!