Coimbra is located at the center of Portugal. Coimbra is a riverfront city in central Portugal and the country’s former capital. It preserves a medieval old town that hosts the historic University of Coimbra — Alta and Sofia UNESCO World Heritage —, the oldest university in Portugal, and one of the oldest in the world. Created by King Dinis in 1290, by signing the Scientiae Thesaurus Mirabilis, the University of Coimbra went through several relocations until it permanently settled in Coimbra in 1537.
Coimbra is known as the city of students and breathes youth. The city traditions are intertwined with music, with Coimbra’s Fado being a unique expression in the world that is played by University students.
University of Coimbra
From its foundation until the end of the 16th century, the University of Coimbra consolidated its position as a center for the education of the elites of an empire where the sun never set. Throughout the centuries it has been an academic reference both in Portugal and Portuguese speaking countries.
The university is organized into eight different faculties according to a wide range of fields, granting academic bachelor, master and doctorate degrees in nearly all major fields of knowledge, such as arts, engineering, humanities, mathematics, natural sciences, social sciences, medicine, sports, and technologies. It is a founding member of the Coimbra Group, a group of leading European research universities, whose inaugural meeting it hosted. The University of Coimbra has over 20,000 students, and hosts one of the largest communities of international students in Portugal, arguably being the most cosmopolitan Portuguese university.