My city coimbra

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COIMBRA

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COIMBRA


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Coimbra is a city in the municipality of Coimbra in Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, it is better-known for its university, the University of Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the Portuguese-speaking world.

According 2001 Census, provided by the Portuguese Instituto Nacional de Estatística (English: National Institute of Statistics), the city proper had a population of 101,069. The city of Coimbra is one of the most important urban centres in Portugal (after the much larger cities of Lisbon and Porto), playing a central role in the northern-central littoral and interior of the country. It is the principal centre in the Centro region, the District of Coimbra and the Baixo Mondego subregion.


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After the Roman city of Civita Aeminium, between 586 and 640, the Visigoths altered the name of the town to Emínio. The Moors occupied Coimbra(Arabic: ة CْمAِر?َي==> Qulumriyah) around the year 711, turning it into an ,ُقCُلimportant commercial link between the Christian North and Muslim South. The city was reconquered by Ferdinand I of Leónin 1064. After being reconquered by the Christians, Coimbra became the capital of a new County (County of Coimbra), governed by the Mozarab Sesnando (Sisnando Davides), later incorporated into theCounty of Portugal. In the mid-12th century, the first Portuguese King, Afonso Henriques, turned Coimbra into the capital of the new Kingdom, a condition the city would keep until the year 1255. Many important monuments of the city date from this early period, like the Old Cathedral, the Church of St. James (Igreja de Santiago) and the Santa Cruz Monastery, which was the most important Portuguese monastic institution at the time

The city, located over a hill by the river Mondego, was called Aeminium in Roman times. During late Antiquity it became the seat of a Diocesis substituting the nearby city of Conímbriga, which had been captured and partially plundered by invading Germanic peoples in 465 and 468, adopting later the name of the destroyed city

History


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Geography

The historic city of Coimbra is located in central Portugal, 120 km south of Porto, 195 km north of Lisbon. One of Portugal's biggest crossroads, Coimbra is served by the A1, the main highway of Portugal. It is set by the Mondego River, about 40 km east of Figueira da Foz, a neighbour coastal city with several beaches, summer and seaport facilities on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Just outside the municipality, there are also several picturesque mountain towns such as Lousã and Penacova and spa towns and villages such asLuso, Buçaco and Curia.


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Education

Coimbra has been called A cidade dos estudantes (The city of the students) or Lusa-Atenas (Lusitan-Athens), 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. Nowadays, it has students from 70 different nationalities; almost 10% of its students are foreigners, making it Portugal's most international university.Besides that, there are also some other schools and institutes of higher education in the city: the Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra, a public polytechnic institute; the Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra, a public nursing school; and some private higher education institutions such as the Instituto Superior Miguel Torga; the Instituto Superior Bissaya Barreto; the Escola Universitária Vasco da Gama and finally, the Escola Universitária das Artes de Coimbra, an art school.

The main square and buildings of the historic block of the University of Coimbra


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Culture

Coimbra fado

Coimbra fado is a highly stylized genre of fado born in the city of Coimbra. Guitar player Carlos Paredes and singer Zeca Afonso, are among its most renowned and historical figures.

Student festivals

Coimbra is also known for its university students' festivals. Two are held every year. The first one, Latada or Festa das Latas ("The Tin Can Parade") is a homecoming parade that occurs at the beginning of the academic year, and is a welcome to the new university students (Caloiros).

Music actsCoimbra has a lively music scene that caters for most tastes with lots of festivals and events beyond the academic festivals and the traditional Coimbra fado genre. It boasts several live music venues, and some of the most popular club nights and music festivals in Portugal.


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Sport

Coimbra also has one of the largest multisports clubs in Portugal: the University of Coimbra's students' union Associação Académica de Coimbra, includes sections dedicated to a wide array of sports such as rugby, volleyball, handball, rink hockey, basketball, baseball, tennis, swimming, rowing, among many others.

Coimbra is home to Associação Académica de Coimbra - O.A.F. (known simply as Académica), a professional football autonomous organism of the University of Coimbra students' union Associação Académica de Coimbra, founded in 1872 and having its current statute of autonomous football organization since the 1980s. Académica football team plays in the Portuguese Liga at the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra. Clube de Futebol União de Coimbra, another sports club with tradition in the city, owner of a football team which plays in the Portuguese Second Division, is other important club of Coimbra.

The 30,210-seater Estádio Cidade de Coimbra (Coimbra City Stadium).

Academic Association of Coimbra


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Portugal's first king, Afonso Henriques, is buried in the Santa Cruz Monastery.

The poet Luis Vaz de Camoes is linked with the city of Coimbra.

Carlos Seixas one of Portugal's notable sons: born and raised in Coimbra

A view of Coimbra's University Hill as seen from the Mondego River.

Praça do Comércio (Commerce Square) in the Baixa of Coimbra.

Ponte do Açude, one of the busiest bridges over Mondego river.


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The interior stacks of the Joanina Library, one of the oldest collections in Portugal

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

The Cathedral of Sé Nova The west façade of Coimbra'sOld Cathedral (Sé Velha), one of the best-preserved Romanesquebuildings in Portugal

Travel

My city coimbra