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Published: September 17th 2008
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Day 7: Coimbra
Waking up with a soar throat...dry mouth...and a gentle heart throbbing head...we ventured into the city.
First up was the
Convento de Santa-Clara-a-Velha. Unfortunately closed to public due to renovation works, it still is worth the visit. Afterwards we went to the
Quintas de Lagrimas were the tragedy of
Dom Pedro e Dona Ines took place.
Intermezzo Like the story of Romeo en Juliette, but a little more sinister and gruesome, is the tragedy of
Dom Pedro e Dona Ines a love story. Dona Ines was of Spanish descent and Dom Pedro was crown Prince of Portugal...and as every decent love story goes, Daddy didn't agree because she would jeopardize the Portuguese throne with her liaisons to the Spanish court. This love story escalated and ended abruptly when daddy,
Dom Alfonso IV, ordered the assassination of Dona Ines. Unaware of their situation, he actually ordered the kill of his daughter in law....they were married in secret. When Dom Alfonso IV died Dom Pedro took revenge extracting, seasoning, frying and eating the heart of the assassins that took his loved one. Afterwards to complete his revenge he exhumed his dead wife's body and
forced the court to accept her as their queen by kissing her decomposing hand.
At the
Fonte de Amores is the place were Dona Ines would receive the secret letters of Dom Pedro and at the
Fonte de Lagrimas she was assassinated.
After this gruesome stroll down history, we continue our travel to the center of Coimbra. Walking through the Moorish gate over street called "The Back Breaker". Why you ask? It is the steepest walk up a town that I ever did. The name back breaker is not my nickname for it , it is actually called the back breaker in Portuguese. Next was the
Sé Velha or old cathedral followed the new cathedral or
Sé Nova and to finish of with the
University.
At the university the main examination room was the star of the building. Here, infront of all the professors, the dean and the head-dean, student took their final oral exam here. Stunning about this room is the paintings of all the Portuguese kings and the fact that sexism was accepted. Women weren't allowed to participated at this ceremony, if you want to call an exam that, they could however attend their fellow
male student graduation.
The cream of the crop was the library. This majestic room is probably one of the most impressive rooms/buildings I have ever seen! three stories of century old books perfectly preserved. Every book worth having during medieval times was stored here. Unfortunately taking pictures was prohibited, so you could buy the postcard.....luckily I have a zoom lens, so when taking pictures from outside of the library I was able to grab a snap or two from the inside! Voyeuring at his best! ;-)
Signing off while being a foreign voyeur
the backpackers
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