Quinta das Lágrimas

Inês de Castro was a Galician noblewoman, lady-in-waiting to the wife of the heir to the Portuguese throne, and Pedro fell in love with her; after his wife died they lived together and had children. Afonso IV, judging the Castilian connection a threat to the succession, had her killed at Coimbra in January 1355. Pedro rebelled, and when he became king two years later he had two of the killers executed by having their hearts torn out, declared that he had secretly married Inês, and - according to the chronicles, though historians treat it as later legend - had her body exhumed, crowned and enthroned so the court could kiss her hand. The gardens here are traditionally the place of her death, with the Fonte dos Amores and the Fonte das Lágrimas, whose red-stained stones are said to be her blood and are in fact algae and iron. The house is now a hotel.

History

The estate's origin is uncertain: it was a royal hunting ground and later belonged to the University of Coimbra and then to a religious order. The Osório Cabral de Castro family bought it in 1730 and built the palace, much of which was lost in a fire in 1879 and rebuilt late in the nineteenth century, and the estate was classified as a Building of Public Interest in 1977 (Wikipedia, Quinta das Lágrimas).

What to look for

• The Fonte das Lágrimas - the spring whose red staining is attributed to her blood.
• The Fonte dos Amores - the fountain associated with the couple's meetings.
• The gardens - romantic planting around the traditional site of the killing.
• The story - a 1355 political murder that became the country's central romance.

When to go

March to October for the gardens. One to two hours. The house operates as a hotel, so garden access has set hours.

What to expect

The red staining is mineral and algal, not blood, and the association of this exact spot with the killing is traditional rather than documented. The gardens are modest for the ticket. The house is a hotel and not open to garden visitors. Across the river from the centre.

Nearby

Santa Clara-a-Velha is close on the same bank; central Coimbra is across the bridge.

Key facts