Coimbra Audio Guided Walking Tour 2h25 and 25 Audio Comments

Figure of another time, the Tricana de Coimbra is the emblematic feminine image of the city.

Here we are, right in front of one of the most expressive and oldest testimonies of Romanesque art in Portugal.

You can barely see it in our path, yet the Machado de Castro National Museum is one of the most important art institutions in the whole country.

Let it be clear between us, just because we call it nova, or “new” in French, does not mean that this religious building does not have much to teach us.

Without even going further, we can already see between the foliage and the passing cars, the imposing silhouette of the aqueduct of São Sebastião.

Often cited in the family of the most beautiful gardens in the world, the Jardim Botânico was founded in 1774, at the request of the Marquis de Pombal.

Clinging to a hill, overlooking the Rio Mondego, Coimbra is the festive and popular mood of its Baixa, the erudite and ancestral temperament of its Alta, but also the romance and holiness of its Santa Clara neighborhood.

Anyone visiting Coimbra, can not miss a stop at this special place. The University of Coimbra is a living testament to the best that Portugal has to offer in science, arts and culture.

If the University of Coimbra has a reputation without borders, it is obviously due to its image as a citadel of knowledge, but not only.

Almost at the end of the route on Coimbra, from the Serra da Estrela where it originates, the Rio Mondego is the longest 100% Portuguese river.

Although most of the abbeys were abandoned, after the disappearance of the various religious orders, the monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha is still in place.

By definition dedicated to children, Portugal dos Pequenitos, or the “Portugal of the very small”, placed on your left, is the oldest theme park in the country.

Perched on the heights of the Santa Clara district, the monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova was built between 1648 and 1696, in order to replace that of Santa Clara-a-Velha, which was hit several times by the floods of the Rio Mondego.

Oh, there, but what a magical place! It is perfectly located on the slopes of the Santa Clara district that this miradouro, or lookout, if translated into the language of Molière, reveals itself in grace and perspective.

When we try to connect music to Portugal, 4 letters are jostled in our head, before being pronounced on the tips of our lips. Together, they say the word Fado.

Here you are at the gates of Rua Ferreira Borges! True to the same route since medieval times, this artery is one of the liveliest in the neighborhood.

Slided or even hidden between two buildings on your right, the Porta da Barbacã is a precious witness to the second fortified enclosure of Coimbra.

We need no more than a quick look at Praça do Comércio to see that the church of São Tiago is the historical reference of the surroundings.

Although the historic center extends over almost the entire city, Coimbra is composed of two bordering geographical areas, with distinct morphology and history.

Added to Café Majestic in Porto, and Café Brasileira in Lisbon, Café Santa Cruz de Coimbra caps off the trio of the most beautiful cafés in the country.

Perfectly integrated into the chromatic and architectural patchwork of the square, on which it stands, the Mosteiro de Santa Cruz is one of the oldest and most important monuments in Coimbra.

This is where we stop friends, near the Jardim da Manga, which emerges on our way as a kind of enchanted place.

Perched in a favorable position at 160 meters of altitude, the Alta de Coimbra is the second face of the city.

With its squat and ancient appearance, it is easy to believe that the Torre de Anto was initially among the highest points of the medieval enclosure of Coimbra.

Barely the arch crossed, that we are pleasantly surprised by this portal with a rich naturalist decoration, so attached to the Manueline architectural style.