The Panoramic Balcony

This is the ideal place to understand the structure of Coimbra: a high hill that is easy to defend and a flat area where two important communication routes cross, the river that runs at its feet and the road that, since Roman times, has connected Lisbon to Braga. From early on, these characteristics were taken advantage of and explain the division of the city into Upper and Lower Town. In the Lower Town, nestling between the river and the hill, the commercial area was developed in the Praça Velha market or in shops and workshops on Rua da Calçada. This was the main artery that linked the bridge to the monastery of Santa Cruz. In the Upper Town, surrounded by the wall, some of whose walls and towers have survived, were the power structures: the Royal Palace, the Bishop's Palace and, above the Romanesque cathedral, the castle, demolished in the 18th century. Linking the Upper and Lower Town, and acting as the main entrance to the upper town, is the Arch and Tower of Almedina, of Islamic origin, which housed the Town Hall for centuries. From where it stands, we can see across the river the old medieval monastery of St. Clare. Halfway down the slope, we can see the monasteries of St. Clare and St. Francis, built in the 17th century to replace the old ones that were swallowed up by the waters of the Mondego.