Official Coimbra Tourism website

Visitors

Visitors

Museums of Coimbra: guardians of history and culture

Coimbra, a city with a rich historical and cultural heritage, is a true treasure for lovers of art, science and heritage.

"Each museum space reflects the central role of Coimbra in the history of Portugal"

Its museums offer a fascinating journey through time, revealing everything from the secrets of academic life to the excellence of sacred art, including scientific discoveries and unique traditions.

Each museum space reflects Coimbra's central role in Portugal's history and invites visitors to explore a legacy that transcends generations.

Bissaya Barreto House-Museum

This house museum was, for almost 50 years, the private residence of Fernando Bissaya Barreto (1886-1974), an eminent professor of medicine at the University of Coimbra, a surgeon, humanist and philanthropist, a major figure in the history of social assistance and medicine in Portugal.

Elysio de Moura House-Museum

The House-Museum was inaugurated in June 2018. It is just a small part of a huge project to restore Dr. Elysio de Moura's heritage. Entry is free but reservations are required. Opening hours are Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2am to 3pm and from 5pm to 10pm.

College of Saint Anthony of Pedreira

Former school founded in 1602 by the Franciscan province of Santo António da Observância. In 1834, with the extinction of the religious orders, it was abandoned, and was later renovated. It currently houses the Elysio de Moura House-Museum.

Memorial of Sister Lucia

With the aim of making Sister Lúcia's life better known, especially as a Carmelite, and of exhibiting some of her personal objects, the Carmel of Santa Teresa, in Coimbra, has created an exhibition space, located next to the Carmel, where you can see unique pieces from her personal use.

Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova

While in Coimbra, you should visit the Convent of Santa Clara-a-Nova, where you will find the tomb of the Holy Queen, Isabel of Aragon, the Patron Saint of Coimbra. The tomb was carved in 1330 by Master Pêro from a single block of limestone.

Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha

The Monastery of Santa Clara was ordered to be built in 1314 by D. Isabel de Aragão, the Holy Queen, replacing a small convent of Poor Clare nuns founded in 1286. The temple was completed in 1330 and its design is due to the architect Domingos Domingues, who had previously worked on the Monastery of Alcobaça.

Coimbra Water Museum

The building that once housed the Water Collection Station is a natural space for Águas de Coimbra to communicate with the city.

Santa Casa Museum
of the Mercy of Coimbra

The former convent has been adapted and is now a multifunctional space with museum, social and cultural purposes. It has a unique movable, immovable and integrated heritage. It was classified as a National Monument in 1911 and included in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2013.

Coimbra Municipal Museum

The Municipal Museum of Coimbra City Council's mission is to research, understand and disseminate themes related to museums and their collections, for the knowledge and enjoyment of visitors, as well as to promote the historical and artistic heritage of the city of Coimbra, with a view to raising public awareness of its preservation.

Chiado Building

The permanent exhibition includes an important collection of Portuguese paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as significant examples of ceramics, sculpture, silverware and furniture. Temporary exhibitions are held on the ground floor and in the Almedina gallery.

Tower of Almedina

A National Monument since 1910, it was once the main gateway to the inner city walls of Coimbra. It currently houses the Núcleo da Cidade Murhada, whose aim is to restore the existence of the wall in the collective memory, demonstrating its decisive influence on the urban organization of Coimbra.

Anto Tower

The Torre de Anto, originally called Torre do Prior do Ameal, is currently the Casa do Artesanato or the Museum Center for the Memory of Written Writing.

Coimbra Contemporary Art Center

Located in the heart of the city, it offers a regular program of temporary exhibitions, built from the collection in reserve and other public or private collections.

Machado de Castro National Museum

The Machado de Castro National Museum is one of the most important fine arts and archaeology museums in the country, which presents important collections of painting, sculpture and decorative arts, covering a history spanning more than two thousand years.

Garden of the Quinta das Lágrimas

Quinta das Lágrimas is a true plant museum with a world-class collection of gardens: romantic, Japanese, medieval, aromatic, organic vegetable gardens and an extensive forest. Walk throughout the Quinta das Lágrimas Garden… there are several signs of this tragic love that still populates the national imagination today.

Major Seminary of Coimbra

A place where Culture and Spirituality interact with the City. In Alta de Coimbra, next to the Botanical Garden, we find one of the most impressive displays of Italian art in Portugal, over 250 years old.

Paço das Escolas

The Palace of Schools, also known as the Palace of the University of Coimbra and previously called the Royal Palace of the Alcaçova and Alcaçova of Coimbra, is the architectural complex that houses the historic core of the University of Coimbra.

Academic Museum

The Academic Museum has an exhibition that makes a unique contribution to understanding student life in Coimbra and European identity.

Science Museum

It holds the oldest Portuguese museum collection of natural history and scientific instruments, inseparable from the built heritage of Jesuit and Pombaline origin, to which are associated other collections that reflect the evolution of the University of Coimbra and its influence in Portugal and the world.

Jardim Botânico

The Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra is a 13,5-hectare botanical garden located in Coimbra, Portugal. It is a member of the Ibero-Macaronese Association of Botanical Gardens and the BGCI, and presents conservation programmes for the International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation.

House of Language Citizenship

The House of Language Citizenship, known as Casa do Arco, is located on Rua Doutor João Jacinto. Today it is a space for reflection and action to build a more promising future for Portugal, Brazil and other Portuguese-speaking countries and plays a central role in the debate and production of new thinking...

Museum of Agriculture

Housed in the Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra, the largest agricultural museum in the country is divided into three sectors: educational museum, agricultural machinery museum and wine museum and aims to raise awareness of the evolution of agricultural activities and technologies.

Miguel Torga House Museum

The residence of physician Adolfo Rocha from 1953 until 1995 (the year he died) was designed by architect Valdez. It opened to the public on August 12, 2007, the centenary of the poet's birth.

Plan your visit:
there is always something interesting happening!

Coimbra is a great place to visit at any time of the year. Take our suggestions!

Municipal Tourist Office

Old Coimbra Station A

António Granjo Street No. 6

3000-429 Coimbra, Portugal

Phone: 239 857 500

Email: tourism@cm-coimbra.pt

© Official Coimbra Tourism website