Archive for the History & Culture Category

On March 1st, Rádio Universidade de Coimbra celebrates 40 years on air. Four decades marked by training, debate, and cultural programming that has helped shape the city’s soundscape. Although officially founded in 1986, RUC’s roots go back to the 1940s, when the Experimental Radio Centre, then a

In 2022, at a time still marked by the solitude left by the pandemic and the weakening of social ties, Vânia Couto extended a simple invitation: to create a space where women could come together and sing. The intention was not to launch an ambitious project, but

Coimbra, a city with a millennia-old history, holds not only memories in its winding streets, but also enchanting legends passed down through time. Among them stands out the legend of Coluber, a tale of love and courage said to have inspired the name of our city. According

Carlos Paredes was born on February 16th 1925, in Coimbra. He grew up in an environment full of music and at the age of 4, began learning to play the guitar with his father, Artur Paredes, one of the great figures of the Portuguese guitar. In 1934,

The beautiful but tragic love story between D. Pedro and D. Inês de Castro has left an indelible mark on Portugal’s history and heritage. D. Pedro I, son of King D. Afonso IV and heir to the Portuguese throne, fell deeply in love with Inês de Castro,

Coimbra is associated with the legendary love story of Pedro and Inês but there are many other curious stories as a result, or not, of the people’s imagination. The Legend of Cindazunda, for example, duly documented, tells us the story of the city’s foundation. Aeminium, the ancient

Zeca Afonso, one of the most emblematic composers and singers of the song of Coimbra, was born in 1929, in Aveiro. He arrived in Coimbra at just 11 years old and it was here that he completed high school and attended the “Faculdade de Letras” of the University

Almalaguês, part of Coimbra’s council, just 12 km from the center of town, is a unique weaving center that places this small village in the panorama of Portuguese crafts. In Almalaguês, the majority of women dedicated themselves to the art of weaving, on their looms, often to

The “Casa da Cidadania da Língua” (“House of the citizenship of the language”, previously known as “House of the arch”), located in the old Uptown of Coimbra, more precisely at number 8 on “Rua Douror João Jacinto”, is a “space for reflection and action for the construction