about
150,000 volumes, and the museums and laboratories are on an extensive
scale. In connexion with the medical faculty there are regular
hospitals; the mathematical faculty maintains an observatory from which
an excellent view can be obtained of the whole valley of the Mondego;
and outside the town there is a botanic garden (especially rich in the
flora of Brazil), which also serves as a public promenade. Among the
other educational establishments are a military college, a royal college
of arts, a scientific and literary institute, and an episcopal seminary.

The city is the seat of a bishop, suffragan to the archbishop of Braga;
its new cathedral, founded in 1580, is of little interest; but the old
is a fine specimen of 12th-century Romanesque, and retains portions of
the mosque which it replaced. The principal churches are Santa Cruz, of
the 16th century, and San Salvador, founded in 1169. On the north bank
of the Mondego stand the ruins of the once splendid monastery of Santa
Clara, established in 1286; and on the south bank is the celebrated
_Quinta das lagrimas_, or Villa of Tears, where Inez de Castro (q.v.) is
believed to have been murdered in 1355. The town is supplied with water
by means of an aqueduct of 20 arches. The Mondego is only navigable in
flood, and the port of Figueira da Foz is 20 m. W. by S., so that the
trade of Coimbra is mainly local; but there are important lamprey
fisheries and manufactures of pottery, leather and hats.

A Latin inscription of the 4th century identifies Coimbra with the
ancient Aeminium; while Condeixa (3623), 8 m. S.S.W., represents the
ancient Conimbriga or Conembrica,. In the 9th century, however, when the
bishopric of Conimbriga was removed hither, its old title was
transferred to the new see, and hence arose the modern name Coimbra. The
city was for a long time a Moorish stronghold, but in 1064 it was
captured by Ferdinand I. of Castile and the Cid. Until 1260 it was the
capital of the country, and no fewer than six kings--Sancho I. and II.,
Alphonso II. and III., Pedro and Ferdinand--were born within its walls.
It was also the birthplace of the poet Francisco Sa de Miranda
(1495-1558), and, according to one tradition, of the more famous Luiz de
Camoens (1524-1580), who was a student at the university between 1537
and 1542. In 1755 Coimbra suffered considerably from the earthquake. In
1810 it was sacked by the French under Marshal Massena. In 1834 Dom
Miguel made the