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Coimbra District

Coimbra DistrictDistricts of Portugal
LocalDistritoCoimbra
LocalDistritoCoimbra

Coimbra District (Portuguese: Distrito de Coimbra, pronounced [kuˈĩbɾɐ] (listen) or [ˈkwĩbɾɐ]) is located in the Centro Region, Portugal. The district capital is the city of Coimbra.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Coimbra District (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Coimbra District
Praça 8 de Maio, Coimbra Baixa (Coimbra (Sé Nova, Santa Cruz, Almedina e São Bartolomeu))

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 40.211111111111 ° E -8.4288888888889 °
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Address

Câmara Municipal de Coimbra

Praça 8 de Maio
3000-274 Coimbra, Baixa (Coimbra (Sé Nova, Santa Cruz, Almedina e São Bartolomeu))
Portugal
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LocalDistritoCoimbra
LocalDistritoCoimbra
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Coimbra
Coimbra

Coimbra (, also US: , UK: , Portuguese: [kuˈĩbɾɐ] (listen) or [ˈkwĩbɾɐ]) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of 319.40 square kilometres (123.3 sq mi). The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area 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 first Portuguese university in 1290 in Lisbon and its relocation to Coimbra in 1308, making it 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."

Igreja de Santiago (Coimbra)
Igreja de Santiago (Coimbra)

Igreja de Santiago (São Tiago Church) is a church located at Praça do Comércio in São Bartolomeu parish, Coimbra, Portugal. Built between the late 12th and early 13th centuries, it is one of the great Romanesque monuments of the city, and is classified as a National Monument. First construction began before 957, as evidenced by a document donated to Lorraine Monastery. It was rebuilt in the last decades of the twelfth century in the reign of Sancho I of Portugal. The elegant south portal probably dates to the late 12th century, and consists of several unpainted archivolts, surrounded by a vine-shaped frame, and capitals and columns with plant motifs. The four-arch portal in the front facade was built later. It capitals contain various motifs, both plant and animal, some derived from the Old Cathedral of Coimbra, and its columns are decorated with spiral-shaped geometric reliefs and plant motifs. The church interior has three naves and three chapels at its head. In the 15th century, a quadrangular chapel was added to the north side of the church, with a Gothic-style portal and a decorated chambranle. Although it has undergone several modifications over the centuries, the most radical intervention took place in the 1540s, when a second church was built over the early church to serve as the city's Mercy Church. This addition was removed in the restoration work of the first half of the twentieth century. An important mutilation of the church occurred in 1861, when the current Visconde da Luz street was widened. In this work, much of the southern apsidiole and main chapel were lost.