University of Coimbra

Coimbra's university has been teaching since 1290 - among Europe's oldest - and since 1537 it has held the royal palace crowning the city's hill, growing into the UNESCO-listed acropolis of Portuguese learning above the Mondego river. Its jewel needs no superlative inflation: the Biblioteca Joanina, completed in the 18th century under King Joao V, is a triple-chambered vault of gilt chinoiserie shelving, painted ceilings and tens of thousands of early volumes - famously patrolled after dark by a small resident colony of bats that eats the insects which would otherwise eat the books. Around it cluster the Sao Miguel chapel with its painted organ, the ceremonial halls of the old palace, and the clock tower nicknamed the Goat; below, students in black capes keep traditions alive, from fado sung under windows to May's ribbon-burning graduation festival.

History

King Denis chartered the university on 1 March 1290 as a Studium Generale in Lisbon, after efforts going back at least to 1288, and Pope Nicholas IV confirmed it on 9 August 1290, allowing faculties of Arts, Law, Canon Law and Medicine but not yet Theology. It moved to Coimbra in 1308, probably over strained relations with the Church and clashes between townspeople and students, went back to Lisbon in 1338, returned in 1354, and in 1377 left again for Lisbon for over a century and a half. In 1537, under John III, it moved to Coimbra for good, into the Alcaçova Palace, which was bought from the royal family in 1597, together with the books of its library, and in 2013 it became a World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, University of Coimbra).

What to look for

• The Joanina library - gilt baroque chambers and their guardian bats.
• The Sao Miguel chapel - azulejos and the flamboyant painted organ.
• The palace courtyard - ceremonial halls above the Mondego bend.
• The black capes - living student traditions in the hill streets.

When to go

Term time animates the hill with gowned students; May's Queima das Fitas brings the graduation festival at full volume. Spring and autumn spare you the queue-baking summer sun on the exposed courtyard.

Things to know

Joanina entry runs on timed slots with only minutes inside the main chamber and no photography - book the first slots or queue. The hill is steep, honest climbing from the lower town. Summer strips out the students who are half the atmosphere.

Nearby

Coimbra's old town lanes, the Santa Clara convents across the river and the Roman ruins of Conimbriga.

Key facts