The University of Coimbra

On the way back to Lisbon from the national park, we stopped off in Coimbra to look at the city center and especially the university. It was founded in 1290 and is one of the oldest universities in Europe. In the first centuries of its history, the university changed its location a few times between Lisbon and Coimbra. Since the 16th century, however, it has been permanently based in Coimbra. Some buildings still date from this period, but many were demolished during the "Estado Novo" and rebuilt in the monumental style of the 1940s. It is an interesting contrast in style to see the old buildings next to the relatively new buildings, which are reminiscent of the architecture of the Nazis in Germany. Unfortunately, I found very little information about the new buildings and their history. I have included a photo of the Faculty of Literature from the Internet so that you can see for yourself. Image source: https://noticias.uc.pt/artigos/fluc-promove-dia-aberto-para-assinalar-111-anos/

The city center of Coimbra is pretty, but also really small. We walked around everything that was recommended in the Lonely Planet (my travel guide) in about 3 hours... We therefore spent the rest of our day eating delicious food. So the time was well spent :-)