Coimbra
“Its atmospheric, beautiful historic core cascades down a hillside in a lovely setting on the east bank of the Rio Mondego: it's a multicolored collage of buildings spanning nearly a millennium.”
Coimbra, Cidade dos Estudantes (promotional video)
Known as the "City of Students", Coimbra is a World Heritage city located in the center of Portugal, about 2 hours away from Lisbon and 1 hour from Oporto.
Coimbra is one of Portugal's oldest cities and is home to one of the world's first universities. It was the capital of the country from 1139 to 1256 and its University was founded in 1290.
Today this impressive University is still one of the world's most illustrious and the city's biggest attraction. The influence of the University is felt in the life of the city, with the students wearing their long black cloaks and ribbons of varying colors to distinguish the various faculties and the notes of the guitarra (Portuguese guitar) and the full, deep voices of fado singers that comes out of the traditional Fado´s houses.
Coimbra is a very beautiful and peaceful town situated on the banks of the Mondego. The River separate de two parts of the city.
On the right side of the river, the urban hull is made up of two geographically contiguous but morphologically distinct zones:
- Alta (upper town): surrounding the University and standing on a hill overlooking the Mondego River is the older part which consists of steep narrow cobbled streets, where the Repúblicas (typical communal student hostels) are to be found, as well as some are fine old churches like Old Cathedral (Sé Velha) and New Cathedral (Sé Nova).
- Baixa (lower town): where most of the city’s traditional commercial activity is concentrated. It is well known by its small and labyrinthic streets and alleys with old houses. The Santa Cruz Church (Igreja de Santa Cruz) and several medieval churches can easily be found.
The left side of Mondego River can be reached walking across Santa Clara Bridge. There it is possible to admire the view of the old city and visit several other historic sights, like the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha and the Convent of Santa Clara-a-Nova.
In 2013, the University of Coimbra, Alta and Sofia Street (located in the lower town) were integrated into the UNESCO World Heritage list. This classification refers to buildings, but also encompasses an immaterial dimension justified by the role of the University of Coimbra as a constructor and diffuser for centuries of Portuguese language and culture.
XXIV Workshop on Accounting
Extended abstract submission: 2018/09/30
