By the Mondego River, in a building that for decades was tied to the city’s water supply and infrastructure, Coimbra has gained a new space dedicated to books, thought, and encounter. The former Estação Elevatória de Coimbra has been reborn as the Carlos Fiolhais Library, following the donation of the professor’s vast personal collection: an archive of more than 40,000 items, including books, periodicals, and audio-visual materials.
There is something deeply symbolic in this transformation: where water was once lifted, culture is now elevated. The phrase comes from Carlos Fiolhais himself, who describes the space as a “house of culture” in the service of the community. This idea captures the spirit of the project: it is not merely about storing books, but about putting them into circulation, opening conversations, and returning knowledge to the city, turning a private collection into a shared public resource.
The building, dating back to 1922, has served different purposes over time, but the recent intervention sought to preserve its industrial memory while adapting it to its new role as a library and a venue for talks and discussions.
Carlos Fiolhais is one of the most prominent figures in science communication in Portugal. An emeritus professor at the University of Coimbra, author of dozens of books, and former director of the University’s General Library, he has built, over decades, a deep relationship with science and the sharing of knowledge. The creation of this library extends that trajectory, offering the city a new meeting point that began operating in October 2024, paving the way for its official inauguration in January 2026.
At this stage, around five thousand books are already available, with the full collection being incorporated gradually, allowing the space to grow organically over time. Its regular program already includes talks with writers, exhibitions, and concerts, reinforcing the idea of a dynamic library that goes far beyond the traditional model of silent rooms and closed shelves.
Open to the river and integrated into Parque Manuel Braga, the library brings books closer to everyday life and to the city center. It is not just a place for consultation, but a space to stay, to gather, and to share, where science, literature, and civic life coexist among the shade of trees and the flow of the river.
Coimbra has always been a city shaped by libraries and the circulation of ideas. This new space is not a departure from that tradition, but its natural evolution. At the same time, it carries something truly new: the generous gesture of turning a lifetime’s collection into a shared heritage accessible to all.
The Carlos Fiolhais Library is more than a new cultural venue. It is a place where a building with a functional past finds a new purpose, where books are no longer confined to shelves but set in motion again, and where Coimbra gains another place to read, think, talk, and simply be.
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