Alta

Monuments in Alta

The library, the palace, the chapel and two cathedrals, all within four hundred metres of each other on one ridge.

The colonnaded south front of the Paço das Escolas, the courtyard you cross to reach the library and the prison beneath it
UNESCO

Prisão Académica

The oldest preserved prison in Portugal, in the basement of the most beautiful library in Portugal, and you have to walk through it to reach the books.

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Gilded shelving and painted ceiling in the Noble Floor of the Biblioteca Joanina, Coimbra
UNESCO

Biblioteca Joanina

Portugal’s grandest Baroque interior, entered through a medieval jail, guarded by bats and sold only as a timed slot inside a combined university ticket.

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Verse plaques set into the rock faces of the Penedo da Saudade garden, Coimbra
Free admission

Penedo da Saudade

A cliff-edge garden where Coimbra students have been carving and mounting verses for generations. Free, unenclosed, and the city’s quietest half hour.

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The Via Latina colonnade and clock tower of the Paço das Escolas, University of Coimbra
UNESCO

Paço das Escolas

Portugal’s first royal household, handed to the University in 1544 and still its ceremonial heart: armoury, faculty colour rooms and two examination halls.

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The Sala dos Capelos at the University of Coimbra, with its painted coffered ceiling and rows of royal portraits
UNESCO

Sala dos Capelos

The first dynasty’s throne room, now the University’s ceremonial hall: 172 grotesque ceiling panels and every Portuguese king except sixty years of Spanish ones.

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Blue-and-white tiled walls and gilded altarpiece inside the Capela de São Miguel, Coimbra
UNESCO

Capela de São Miguel

The royal palace’s private oratory, still the university chapel: blue-and-white tiles of 1613, gilt Baroque altarpiece, and the plaque that took the crown off Portugal’s kings.

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The mannerist stone facade of the Sé Nova, Coimbra, on Largo da Feira do Estudante

Sé Nova de Coimbra

The Jesuit College church that took a hundred years to build and became Coimbra’s cathedral in 1772 for one reason: it was bigger than the old one. Entry 1 EUR.

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The fortress-like Romanesque west front of the Sé Velha, Coimbra

Sé Velha de Coimbra

A fortified Romanesque cathedral begun in 1164, with the richest Romanesque carving in Portugal and not a single human figure in it. Entry 3 EUR.

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The baroque clock tower of the University of Coimbra above the Paço das Escolas
UNESCO

Torre da Universidade

Coimbra’s postcard silhouette, and it is shut. The university states the tower is closed with no date; here is the 184-step climb you cannot do, and what to do instead.

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