29 Facts About Coimbra

Coimbra is a city and a municipality in Portugal.

Elipando, the holy Bishop of Coimbra was there holding the stone and the clay for the works of the city.

Coimbra crossed the Douro river and appeared with his army before the new walls of Coimbra.

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 Leon and Castile in 1096, when Henry married Alfonso's illegitimate daughter Theresa.

Already in the Middle Ages, Coimbra was divided into an upper city, where the aristocracy and the clergy lived, and the merchant, artisan and labour centres in the lower city by the Mondego River, in addition to the old and new Jewish quarters.

Related searches

University of Coimbra, was founded as a Studium Generale in Lisbon in 1290 by King Dinis I The University was relocated to Coimbra in 1308, but in 1338 King D Afonso IV returned the University to Lisbon.

The collections of scientific instruments and material acquired then are now gathered in the Science Museum of the University of Coimbra, and constitute one of the most important historical science collections in Europe.

One of the nation's most important crossroads, Coimbra was historically at a junction between Braga and Lisbon, and its river access provided a route between the interior communities and the coastal towns .

The historic city of Coimbra is located centrally within the municipality, connected to Lisbon and Porto by the IC2, IP3 and A1 motorways.

Municipality is circled by several of its neighbouring municipalities in the Regiao de Coimbra, which include Penacova, Vila Nova de Poiares, Miranda do Corvo, Condeixa-a-Nova, Montemor-o-Velho, Cantanhede and Mealhada .

Above all, its cultural life, oriented around the University of Coimbra, has historically attracted the nation's notable writers, artists, academics and aristocracy, securing its reputation as the Lusa-Atenas .

Western edge of Coimbra is covered by the Reserva Natural do Paul de Arzila, which is designated both as a Special Protection Zone and Special Conservation Zone, coincident with the civil parish of Arzila .

Coimbra has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate in a transition to a hot-summer version of the interior of Central Portugal.

Coimbra has a fresh produce open-air market on every 7th and 23rd days of the month at Feira dos 7 e dos 23, and a large fresh produce market in downtown at Mercado D Pedro V The Baixa of Coimbra has many coffeehouses and bakeries, and features several specialty shops selling all kind of products in typical old-fashioned architectural surroundings.

Large commercial facilities with car park, include a medium-sized shopping centre ; two larger shopping centres with hypermarket, restaurants, movie theaters and several shops with a selection of some of Portugal's and the world's most famous and stylish international brands include "Dolce Vita Coimbra" designed by the American planning and design firm, Suttle Mindlin and Forum Coimbra; and two retail parks found on the fringes of the city, offering an alternative to the busy city centre .

Dolce Vita Coimbra was the recipient of the 2006 MIPIM International Design Award; the 2006 ICSC International Design Award; and the 2006 ICSC European Design Award proving that Portugal and Coimbra offer both historical and thoroughly modern shopping experiences.

Two banks of Mondego River at Coimbra, are linked by three main bridges: the Ponte do Acude, the Ponte de Santa Clara and Ponte Rainha Santa, known as Ponte Europa.

From Coimbra-Parque was possible to travel to Miranda do Corvo, Lousa and Serpins, among others.

Coimbra is served by the A1 motorway, which connects Lisbon to Porto.

Coimbra has been called A cidade dos estudantes or Lusa-Atenas, mainly because it is the site of the oldest and one of the largest universities in Portugal – the University of Coimbra, a public university whose origins can be traced back to the 13th century.

Coimbra is the place where the oldest and biggest university students' union of Portugal was founded – the Associacao Academica de Coimbra, established in 1887.

Large number of higher education students from all of Portugal chose Coimbra's higher learning institutions to study, due to the wide availability of degrees offered in different fields, the student-friendly environment of the city, and the prestige of many of its learning institutions allied to the ancient tradition of Coimbra as the historical capital of higher studies in Portugal.

Fado de Coimbra is a highly stylised genre of fado music originated in Coimbra.

Festa das Latas goes back to the 19th century when the Coimbra students felt the need to express their joy at finishing the school year in as loud a way as possible, using everything at their disposal that would make noise, namely tin cans.

Coimbra has a lively music scene that caters for most tastes with many festivals and events beyond the academic festivals, the traditional Coimbra fado genre and Artur Paredes, Adriano Correia de Oliveira and Zeca Afonso's musical heritage.

Related searches

Lux Records, a Portuguese independent record label founded by Rui Ferreira in 1996, is based in Coimbra and has produced the works of many noteworthy music artists and bands of the city since then, including Belle Chase Hotel and The Legendary Tigerman.

The students' union of the University of Coimbra has notable media like the Radio Universidade de Coimbra radio station and A Cabra newspaper.

Coimbra has many attractive and pleasant green spaces such as parks, playgrounds, gardens and forests.

Uniao de Coimbra, are other places where some of the most important indoor sports clashes involving teams of Coimbra are played.