National Museum Machado de Castro – Coimbra, Portugal

The National Museum Machado de Castro (Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro) is an art museum in Coimbra, Portugal, named after the renowned Portuguese sculptor Joaquim Machado de Castro. It first opened in 1913 and its latest renovation (2004-2012), which included the addition of a new building, was awarded the Piranesi/Prix de Rome Prize 2014. The Machado de Castro Museum is one of the most important art museums in Portugal. It is housed in the former Bishop’s Palace. This palace was built from the Middle Ages onwards roughly on the site where the Roman forum of Aeminium (Coimbra’s Roman name) once stood. The remains of this distant past, the Cryptoporticus, can be visited on the lower floors of the museum. The bulk of the museum’s collection is made up of items from churches and religious institutions in the area surrounding Coimbra. The collections of sculpture (the most extensive of all the national museums of Portugal), painting, precious metals, ceramics and textiles are especially noteworthy.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

Water Museum – Coimbra, Portugal

The Water Museum is located in the former Water Collection Station. Paintings, sculptures and artistic installations are organized here. The museum was founded in 2007 to commemorate the association of the city of Coimbra with the Mondego River. The museum’s annual cultural program has events ranging from painting, sculpture, and video exhibitions, art installations, book presentations/releases, musical concerts, to seminars and themed workshops.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

Church of Saint Bartolomeu – Coimbra, Portugal

The Church of Saint Bartolomeu, built in the 18th century, was erected on previous churches from the 10th and 11th century. Subsequently damaged by the Islamic invasions of the 12th century, it was rebuilt as a fragmented capital found in the church, and which is currently exhibited at the Machado de Castro National Museum. Its original plan would have been very similar, even in dimension, to the Church of Saint James, which today remains at the opposite end of the Praça do Comércio or Coimbra Central Square.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha (Coimbra, Portugal)

The ruins of the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha (Old St. Clare) are located in the city of Coimbra, in Portugal. The monastery was built in the 14th century on the left bank of the Mondego River, but had to be abandoned in the 17th century due to frequent floods. The well-preserved Gothic ruins of the monastery were excavated in the late 20th century, more than 300 years after being abandoned by the nuns. The Monastery was founded in the 1280s by Mor Dias as a house of the Order of the Poor Clares. This early monastery was dissolved in 1311, but in 1314 it was refounded by Queen Elizabeth, wife of King Denis of Portugal. Elizabeth was admired for her pious and charitable nature, and her devotion led to her canonisation in 1626. The palace of the Queen, of which only ruins remain, was located near the monastery.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

Monument to Joaquim António de Aguiar – Coimbra, Portugal

Joaquim António de Aguiar (Coimbra, August 24, 1792 – Lisbon, May 26, 1884) was a Portuguese politician and three times prime minister of Portugal. This monument was a tribute of the city of Coimbra in 1911 to Joaquim António de Aguiar, also known as “The Friar Killer”. The statue is by Costa Mota, where Joaquim António de Aguiar has his right hand in a pen and left a sheet of paper that symbolizes the moment when it signed the decree that abolished the religious orders in Portugal, whence comes the his nickname.
The statue is made of bronze and is about 3 meters, is placed on a stone pedestal with nearly 4 feet tall. He stands at the center of the Coimbra Center Square.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

The Center Square (Praca do Comercio) with the Aguiar statue as its focal point is surrounded by shops and restaurants.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos