O Norte Portugal

Contents

Coimbra
Day Trips from Coimbra
Guimarães

The title of the narrative (above the picture) is Portuguese for "Exploring Northern Portugal". We planned to take a Road Scholar cruise along the Douro River, but wanted to spend a few days exploring other parts of the north first. The two places where we stayed, Coimbra and Guimarães, are linked in an interesting way by Portugal's first king. Both cities are of major importance in the early history of the country.

We flew into Porto, and ran into minor problems right away. Accessing the rental car was harder than we expected. It involved a 15 minute walk past row after row of colorful containers, through an area that requires pedestrians burdened by luggage to co-exist uncomfortably with traffic. We then spent 30 minutes driving round and round trying to find the expressway leading south.

Once we found the well-disguised entry ramp, it was easy to find our way. There was more confusion once we reached the center of Coimbra, but soon enough we were settled.

Coimbra is an old university town that features prominently in the history of Portugal. We had booked at the Hotel Ibn-Arrik, and wondered why it had an Arabic name ("Son of Arrik"). We found out that the name was the link between Coimbra and Guimarães, our second stop.

Afonso Henriques was a Portuguese count who spent much of his life fighting against the Moorish occupation. He managed to carve out a new kingdom, and became its first king. He was nicknamed Ibn-Arrik ('son of Henry') by the Moors. Although he was born in Guimarães, he eventually established Coimbra as the seat for his monarchy.

The hotel turned out to be an excellent place to stay: Small, friendly, and comfortable. We recommend it.

Coimbra is home to the oldest university in Portugal. The hotel is close to the university, but to reach the university involved climbing 125 steps to the main courtyard - a good workout for early in the morning. At the top of the steps was a statue of King Dinis I, who was responsible for founding the university in 1290. The poster for the science museum makes an interesting contrast.

The main courtyard is not especially attractive. Buildings featured a lot of concrete, and many of the sculptures (including Dinis) are badly stained. At one end, however, is an attractive portal, and on the other side of the gate is the oldest and most imposing part of the university.

One enters another courtyard surrounded by magnificent 16th century buildings. This area was at one time an important palace. In the center of the courtyard is a statue of King João III, who in 1537 enabled the university to acquire the palace.

On one side is a walkway known as the Via Latana. Adjacent to the walkway is a tower containing bells that are used in a number of university rituals. To the left of the tower is São Michael's chapel, the interior of which is rich in ornate decoration.

From the Via Latana one can reach some of the rooms that are central to the university's operation. For example, this is the room where Ph.D. students take their oral examination. It's hard to imagine a more imposing setting. But even though one might feel overwhelmed by 500 years of history, it's interesting to note one concession to 21st century technology, a projector and screen for the PowerPoint display.

Next to the chapel is the Joanine Library, perhaps the most remarkable of all the university's buildings. To protect the books and rich furnishings, photography is not permitted in the library. However, you can see it, in some ways better than visitors can, through this interactive visit. The basement of the library houses the university prison, once used to hold students and faculty who fell afoul of the authorities. Now it's a storage area.

The courtyard of the Law School was another location that surely impresses both students and visitors. Contrast the courtyard, though, with the entrance to the Law School.

The university's Botanical Garden was close to the hotel, and a relaxing place to visit. It contained a rich collection of rare plants, this enormous fig tree for example. Several interesting sculptures are on display, like this arrangement involving two hams.

On one of our visits a scavenger hunt was in progress. Participants were using one another as a writing table.

From the university it is possible to get to the old part of Coimbra, navigating a maze of narrow streets and steep steps. These eventually lead to the Old Cathedral.

The cathedral was founded by the Visigoths in the 10th century, though all that is left of the original building is a single votive stone. The present building is 12th century, built in the Romanesque style. There are clear Arabic influences, notably large area of Múdejar (Moorish) tiles.

A series of steps leads from the cathedral, via more narrow streets, past our favorite restaurant in Coimbra, to an archway. One day we stopped at a small cafe just beyond the arch to admire an interesting sculpture. It celebrated the artist's love for Coimbra. The relevance of the guitar will become apparent later.

One evening, after a day of rain, the clouds cleared, and the sunset invited an evening stroll. One interesting building near the hotel gleamed in the sunset. It took a while to find out what is was. It's the Coimbra prison.

We encountered a few other items of interest. On one of our walks we came across some intriguing graffiti that was rather more elegant than usually seen. Also of note was Coimbra's reaction to the 2018 World Cup. The city came to a standstill while games were played. For every game, TV broadcasts were set up in public squares for anyone to watch. Football was taken seriously, even after Portugal had been eliminated.

While exploring the old part of Coimbra one afternoon, we heard sounds of choral music coming from a courtyard. It was a choral group singing old Portuguese songs. We learned that they were rehearsing for a performance later that day, part of the city's music festival.

Exploring further, we came upon several groups performing a variety of styles of music: A kind of gypsy music, and a youth group. The latter included a very fine young singer.

One group of musicians, which included a bagpipe player, played traditional Portuguese songs, encouraging some members of the crowd to start dancing.

Meanwhile we noticed the conductor of the choral group. It was time for them to provide their portion of the entertainment.

Our favorite form of entertainment in Coimbra was Fado. It is an old form of traditional music that first appeared in Lisbon. It was adopted and adapted by Coimbra students, male only, who give it their own character. A unique form of guitar is employed. Songs are typically mournful, but often with a touch of humor.

While staying in Coimbra we were able to take a number of trips to nearby places. First, on the other side of the river from where we were staying is a delightful estate, the Quinta das Lagrimas. There are extensive grounds one can explore.

Heading into the woods behind a very large fig tree, one comes to a mysterious enclosure that leads to the Fonte das Lagrimas, associated with which is a sad legend from Portuguese history.

Prince Pedro of Portugal fell in love with his bride's lady-in-waiting, Inés. Pedro's father, the king, was furious, and he sent men to murder Inés. Now, almost 700 years later, her blood still stains the rocks, and lovers can pay their respects to the tragic lovers from long ago. (There's actually much more to the story than that - it's pretty gruesome. Check it out on Wikipedia)

More than 1,000 years before the time of Pedro and Inés, the Romans had established a large settlement at Coimbriga, near Coimbra. They abandoned the settlement in 468, but extensive ruins of the town still survive. Beautiful mosaics can still be seen, some of them reminding us in style of those we saw at the better-known site of Villa Romana del Casale in Sicily.

Even more impressive is a set of fountains that had been part of a large house. The fountains can be turned on now by inserting a coin, although at the time they would have been operated by a slave. Underground chambers had been constructed to enable recycling of the water.

Outside the walls of the settlement an even larger house had been constructed. Only a few pillars remain, but the underground chambers for the baths are well preserved.

The pillars seen in both of these houses were built of brick, using an ingenious "cheese wheel" technique.

Of course, anywhere that has not been a site for active restoration, nature takes over whatever remains.

A few miles from Coimbra is the town of Lousã. There are several reasons to visit the hills outside the town. A castle sits nearby. It was closed for repairs while we were there, but a trail leading up into the mountains was worth exploring. Part of the trail led past some mysterious caves. After navigating an especially tough part of the trail though, JoAnn preferred to recoup at the fountain of life.

Around Lousã are also a number of Schist villages, containing buildings constructed from the local stone. One such village is Cerdeira.

To reach the villages we drove about a mile up a twisting, one-lane road (hoping not to meet traffic coming the other way). After parking outside the town we took a trail past a lovely cascade, to arrive at the Cerdeira main street.

Moss and wild flowers grew everywhere. We felt so enchanted that we stopped for a while at the village cafe to absorb the tranquility. Everything was relaxed and peaceful, and even the dog remained sleeping.

After five days in Coimbra, we moved north to the smaller town of Guimarães. We stayed outside the town at a monastery that had been converted into a pousada, a luxurious hotel.

The approach to the hotel is rather deceptive. The elegant facade is not part of the monastery, it is the Santa Marinha Church, which is still active. The monastery/hotel is the adjacent building.

Nevertheless, while retaining the character of a monastery, the interior of the hotel is luxurious enough. The monks did not enjoy elegance like this.

The combination of elegance and monastic simplicity is carried through to the dining room. However, the bar and lounge was not at all monastic.

There were some rooms, always empty while we were there, that exuded rich elegance. This one could be a ballroom, though surely not in a monastery. Another may have been a hall or dining area.

The monastery may go back as far as the 9th century, though the present building is from the 12th century Some hints of its age were left in the renovation: Exposed masonry, and casually discarded stones outside old windows.

Of course, concessions to modern life had been made: A TV room, for example, and an excellent swimming pool.

Attached to one wing of the pousada is the delightful Frei Jerónimo terrace. The Azulejos tiles on the wall are unusual. At one time the monastery featured many more of this kind, until a fire destroyed them in 1951. JoAnn enjoyed the terrace a lot, and it became her favorite place to read.

The grounds were as vast and impressive as the interior, including formal gardens, a grotto and waterfall, and a cistern dating back to the baroque era.

Behind the pousada, a number of trails and minor roads led up a steep hill to an overlook. It was possible to take a cable car to the top, but one morning we decided to walk instead.

Many large boulders are found on the side of the hill. Near the pousada there are several houses, and it's interesting to see how some of the owners work around or make use of the boulders.

At first we enjoyed the walk a great deal. Moss, ferns, and trees were beautiful. However, the route for walkers turned out to be tougher than we expected, a mixture of rough trails and long flights of steps. It was hot, and we reluctantly turned round before reaching the top.

We also visited the city itself a number of times. The old town is a delightful mixture of beautiful squares and narrow streets. The variety of architectural styles was notable. In the Largo da Oliveira is a curious gothic shrine that was almost always occupied by an elderly lady with a begging bowl.

Guimarães played a significant role in the foundation of Portugal. Because it was the birthplace of Ibn-Arrik, it is often called the "Cradle of Portugal". The capital city was soon moved to Coimbra, but Guimarães still contains vestiges of its early importance.

Predating the creation of Portugal as a nation, the tenth century Castle was built to protect the monastery. The exterior fortifications are imposing, as is the way the castle was built around the rocks on the hillside. There is little remaining of the interior, however.

The main reason for a visit is to enjoy the views from the castle ramparts. Of course, a thousand years of wear take a toll on the stairs, but accommodations have been made for today's visitors. They can then admire the view of the town and surrounding country.

From the ramparts one also has a view of another important building, the palace of the Dukes of Braganza. The tiled chimneys are an obvious and unique feature of the palace.

The palace contains the usual display of medieval weapons. More impressive was the dining room, which features an astonishing tapestry.

Our most interesting time in Guimarães was spent celebrating White Night. We learned about this almost by accident. For no reason we could discover, one night a year everyone is expected to dress in white and have a good time. A few people get away with, say, dark pants, but they still have a good time.

Everything in town is decorated in white. Bars and restaurants set up serving stations on the street. Restaurants offer special menus. Our favorite restaurant in Guimarães served us a delightful meal of Brazilian dishes.

Families take part in the fun. All kinds of celebratory paraphernalia can be purchased. Our favorite, although we did not buy any, were the illuminated balloons. The party lasted until 3 a.m., but we were back in bed at the pousada by then.

After our visit to Guimarães we returned the rental car and negotiated the unfriendly route back to the airport, past all the transport containers, We made contact with a Road Scholar representative, and began the second part of our Portugal trip.

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