Coimbra, Batalha & Fatima

Coimbra is another lovely old university city on the Mondego River with the two Santa Clara monasteries, old and new. It is built on a hill with the university and the cathedral high above the city. I spent the whole morning up at the most beautiful university I have ever seen. It dates back to 1288 and the students all wear gowns. The magnificent library is recognized as one of the most sumptuous in the world. It was built between 1717 and 1728 and the internal walls are floor to ceiling bookcases decorated with Chinese motifs and beautiful wooden inlaid tables. The chapel and salon for concerts were also lovely.It was a very steep climb up to the university on cobbled streets, which are made by hand with each stone sunk into sand and tapped in individually. Amazing!(see photo)
Our next stop was at the beautiful Gothic monastery at Batalha, which was built in limestone at the end of the 1300s as a Domincan abbey.It was enormous and the unfinished chapel had special ornate carving called 'manuelino'. Many famous Portuguese are buried here eg Henry the Navigator, John the First and Philip of Lancaster.Our lunch stop was at the famous Sanctuary of Fatima.This is famous for the story of 3 illiterate children in 1917 looking after sheep who witnessed the apparition of Fatima and the subsequent miracles. Pope John Paul 2 was a frequent visitor here. The three attractions here were the Chapel of the Apparitions, the old basilica with the tombs of the 3 children and the modern basilica.We saw pilgrims going on their knees down a long marble path with their rosaries doing penance.Our final stop was to a bodega for a wine and port tasting. At night we went out to a typical Portuguese dinner and the entertainment was Fado singing and folk dancing.