Coimbra

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For people named Coimbra, see Coimbra (surname).

Coimbra

Municipality
 Clockwise: View of Coimbra from the Mondego River; University of
Coimbra; Coimbra waterfront; Santa Cruz Monastery; Coimbra baixa.

Flag

Coat of arms
 Coordinates:  40°12′40″N 8°25′45″WCoordinates:  40°12′40″N 8°
25′45″W

Country  Portugal

Region Centro

Intermunic. comm. Região de Coimbra

District Coimbra

Parishes 18 (list)

Government

 • President Manuel Machado (PS)

Area

 • Total 319.40 km2 (123.32 sq mi)

Highest elevation 499 m (1,637 ft)

Lowest elevation 9 m (30 ft)

Population

 (2011)

 • Total 143,396

 • Density 450/km2 (1,200/sq mi)

Time zone UTC±00:00 (WET)

 • Summer (DST) UTC+01:00 (WEST)

Postal code 3000

Area code 239

Patron Rainha Santa Isabel

Website www.cm-coimbra.pt

Coimbra (/koʊˈɪmbrə/, also US: /kuˈ-, ˈkwɪmbrə/,[1][2] UK: /ˈkɔɪmbrə/,[3] Portuguese: [kuˈĩbɾɐ] (
listen) or [ˈkwĩbɾɐ][4]) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population at the 2011
census was 143,397,[5] in an area of 319.40 square kilometres (123.3 sq mi).[6] The
fourth-largest urban centre in Portugal (after Lisbon, Porto and Braga), it is the largest
city of the district of Coimbra and the Centro Region. About 460,000 people live in
the Região de Coimbra, comprising 19 municipalities and extending into an area of
4,336 square kilometres (1,674 sq mi).
Among the many archaeological structures dating back to the Roman era, when
Coimbra was the settlement of Aeminium, are its well-
preserved aqueduct and cryptoporticus. Similarly, buildings from the period when
Coimbra was the capital of Portugal (from 1131 to 1255) still remain. During the
late Middle Ages, with its decline as the political centre of the Kingdom of Portugal,
Coimbra began to evolve into a major cultural centre. This was in large part helped by
the establishment of the University of Coimbra in 1290, the oldest academic institution
in the Portuguese-speaking world. Apart from attracting many European
and international students, the university is visited by many tourists for its monuments
and history. Its historical buildings were classified as a World Heritage site
by UNESCO in 2013: "Coimbra offers an outstanding example of an integrated
university city with a specific urban typology as well as its own ceremonial and cultural
traditions that have been kept alive through the ages." [7]

Contents

History[edit]
See also: Timeline of Coimbra

Early history[edit]

Arcos do Jardim

The city, located on a hill by the Mondego River, was called Aeminium in Roman times.

It fell under the influence, administratively, of the larger Roman villa
of Conímbriga (in Condeixa-a-Nova), until the latter was sacked by
the Sueves and Visigoths between 569 and 589 and abandoned.[8] It became the seat of
a diocesis, replacing Conímbriga. Although Conimbriga had been administratively
important, Aeminium affirmed its position by being situated at the confluence of the
north–south traffic that connected the Roman Bracara Augusta (later Braga) and Olisipo
(later Lisbon) with its waterway, which enabled connections with the interior and coast.
The limestone table on which the settlement grew has a dominant position overlooking
the Mondego, circled by fertile lands irrigated by its waters. Vestiges of this early history
include the cryptoporticus of the former Roman forum (now part of the Museu Nacional
de Machado de Castro). The move of the settlement and bishopric of Conimbriga to
Aeminium resulted in the name change to Conimbriga, evolving later to Colimbria.[8]
Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro

During the Visigothic era (around the eighth century), the County of Coimbra was
created by King Wittiza and it was a sub-county of his dominion, established as a fief for
his son Prince Ardabast (or Sisebuto), with its seat in Emínio (the Visigothic name for
Coimbra), which persisted until the Muslim invasion from the south.
The first Muslim campaigns that occupied the Iberian peninsula occurred between 711
and 715, with Coimbra capitulating to Musa bin Nusair in 714. Although it was not a
large settlement, Qulumriyah (Arabic: ‫)قُلُ ْم ِر َية‬, in the context of Al-Andalus, was the
largest agglomerated centre along the northern Tagus valley, and its principal city
boasted a walled enclosure of 10 hectares, supporting between 3000 and 5000
inhabitants. Remnants of this period include the beginnings of
the Almedina, Arrabalde and the fortified palace used by the city's governor (which was
later converted into the Royal Palace by the early Portuguese monarchs). The
Christian Reconquista forced the Banu Dānis and the other Muslims to abandon the
region temporarily. Successively the Moors retook the castle in 987–1064 and again in
1116, capturing two castles constructed to protect the territory: in Miranda da Beira
(where the garrison was slaughtered) and in Santa Eulália (where the governor
rendered his forces rather than facing a similar massacre). [8]
Middle Ages[edit]

Medieval houses "sobrado" in Coimbra

The reconquest of the territory was attained in 1064 by King Ferdinand I of León and
Castile, who appointed Dom Sisnando Davides to reorganize the economy and
administer the lands encircling the city. The County of Portucale and the County of
Coimbra were later integrated into one dominion under the stewardship of Henry of
Burgundy by Alfonso VI of León and Castile in 1096, when Henry married Alfonso's
illegitimate daughter Theresa. Henry expanded the frontiers of the County, confronting
the Moorish forces, and upon his death in 1112, Theresa, Countess of Portucale and
Coimbra, unified her possessions. Their son, Afonso Henriques, who took up residence
in the ancient seat of the Christian County of Coimbra, sent expeditions to the south and
west, consolidating a network of castles that included Leiria, Soure,
Rabaçal, Alvorge and Ansião.[8]

The Manueline façade of the Monastery of Santa Cruz, final resting place of the first Portuguese monarch
(Afonso Henriques).

During the 12th century, Afonso Henriques administered an area of fertile lands with
river access and protected by a fortified city, whose population exceeded 6000
inhabitants, including magnates, knights and high clergy. The young Infante encouraged
the construction of his seat, funding the Santa Cruz Monastery (the most important
Portuguese monastic institution at the time, founded in 1131 by Theotonius), promoted
the construction of the Old Cathedral, reconstructed the original Roman bridge in 1132,
and repaired and renovated fountains, kilns, roads and stone pavements, as well as the
walls of the old city. In order to confirm and reinforce the power of
the concelho (municipality) he conceded a formal foral (charter) in 1179.
Already in the Middle Ages, Coimbra was divided into an upper city (Cidade
Alta or Almedina), where the aristocracy and the clergy lived, and the merchant, artisan
and labour centres in the lower city (Arrabalde or Cidade Baixa) by the Mondego River,
in addition to the old and new Jewish quarters. The city was encircled by a fortified wall,
of which some remnants are still visible like the Almedina Gate (Porta da Almedina).
Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha, refounded in 1314 by Queen Elizabeth of Portugal as a convent of Poor
Clares in the parish of Santa Clara

Meanwhile, on the periphery, the municipality began to grow in various agglomerations,

notably around the monasteries and convents that developed in Celas, Santa
Clara, Santo António dos Olivais. The most important work in Gothic style in the city is
the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha, founded on the left side of the river Mondego by
Queen Elizabeth of Portugal in the first half of the 14th century. It stood too close to the
river, and frequent floods forced the nuns to abandon it in the 17th century, when
the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova was built uphill. The Queen's magnificent Gothic
tomb was also transferred to the new convent. The ruins of the old convent were
excavated in the 2000s, and can be seen today on the left bank of the river.
Renaissance