| A Sé Velha de Coimbra é um dos edifícios em estilo românico mais importantes de Portugal. A construção da Sé começou algum tempo depois da Batalha de Ourique (1139), quando Afonso Henriques se declarou rei de Portugal e escolheu Coimbra como capital do reino. Na Sé está sepultado D. Sesnando, Conde de Coimbra. Atribui-se o projecto da Sé românica a mestre Roberto, de possível origem francesa, que dirigia a construção da Sé de Lisboa na mesma época e visitava Coimbra periodicamente. A direcção das obras ficou a cargo de mestre Bernardo, também possivelmente francês, substituído por mestre Soeiro, um arquitecto que trabalhou depois em outras igrejas na diocese do Porto. A Sé Velha de Coimbra é a única das catedrais portuguesas românicas da época da Reconquista a ter sobrevivido relativamente intacta até os nossos dias. A Sé Velha e, em menor grau, as Igrejas de Santiago e São Salvador, são expoentes da fase afonsina do românico coimbrão. Vista do exterior, a Sé Velha lembra um pequeno castelo, com muros altos coroados de ameias e com poucas e estreitas janelas. A aparência de fortaleza é comum às catedrais da época e explica-se pelo clima bélico da Reconquista. O aspecto mais notável da decoração românica da Sé Velha é o grande número de capitéis esculpidos (cerca de 380), que a converte em um dos principais núcleos da escultura românica portuguesa. Os motivos são entrelaços geométricos e vegetalistas de influência árabe ou pré-românica, assim como quadrúpedes e aves enfrentadas. Praticamente não há representações humanas, e não há nenhuma cena bíblica. A ausência de figuras humanas é, talvez, consequência de os artistas serem moçárabes (cristãos arabizados) que se haviam estabelecido em Coimbra no século XII. No século XIX todo o edifício foi objecto de uma campanha restauradora que visou devolver-lhe a pureza medieval original, objectivo depois continuado na primeira metade do século XX. |
The Old Cathedral of Coimbra (Portuguese: Sé Velha de Coimbra) is one of the most important Romanesque Roman Catholic buildings in Portugal. Construction of the Sé Velha began some time after the Battle of Ourique (1139), when Count Afonso Henriques declared himself King of Portugal and chose Coimbra as capital. The first Count of Coimbra, the mozarab Sisnando Davides, is buried in the cathedral. History Coimbra (the Roman Aeminium) is the seat of a bishopric since the 5th century, after neighbouring Conimbriga was invaded and partially destroyed by the invading Sueves in 468. Almost nothing is known of the cathedrals that preceded the Sé Velha in Coimbra. In 1139, after the Battle of Ourique, King Afonso Henriques decided to finance the building of a new cathedral, given the bad shape of its predecessor. The definitive impulse to the project was given by Bishop Miguel Salomão, who helped pay for the works. In 1185, King Sancho I, second King of Portugal, was crowned in the new cathedral, indicating that the building work was in an advanced state. The basic building was finished in the first decades of the 13th century, even though the cloisters were begun only in 1218, during the reign of King Afonso II. The project of the Romanesque cathedral is attributed to Master Robert, a - possibly – French architect who was directing the building of Lisbon Cathedral at that time and visited Coimbra regularly. The works were supervised by Master Bernard, possibly also French, who was succeeded by Master Soeiro, an architect active in other churches around the Oporto Diocese. In the 16th century there were many additions to the cathedral. The chapels, walls and pillars of the nave were covered with tiles, the monumental Porta Especiosa was built in the north side of the façade, and the southern chapel of the apse was rebuilt in Renaissance style. The basic architecture and structure of the Romanesque building was, nevertheless, left intact. In 1772, several years after the expulsion of the Jesuits from Portugal by the Marquis of Pombal, the seat of the bishopric was transferred from the old medieval cathedral to the Mannerist Jesuit church, thereafter called the New Cathedral of Coimbra (Sé Nova de Coimbra).
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| A Sé Velha de Coimbra ganha particular simbolismo durante as festividades académicas, especialmente na Queima das Fitas: é nas suas escadas que todos os anos se realiza a Serenata Monumental que marca o início da maior festa estudantil da Europa. |
Coimbra Cathedral is the only one of the Portuguese Romanesque cathedrals from the Reconquista times to have survived relatively intact up to the present. The cathedrals of Oporto, Braga, Lisbon and others have been extensively remodelled later. Exterior From the outside, Coimbra's old cathedral looks like a small fortress, with its high, crenellated walls harbouring few, narrow windows.
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This menacing appearance is explained by the belligerent times in which it was built. There is a tower-like structure in the middle of the western façade with a portal and a similar-looking upper window. Both portal and window are heavily decorated with Romanesque motifs of Arabic and Pre-romanesque influences. The façade is reinforced by thick buttresses at the corners that compensate for the angle of the terrain (the cathedral was built on the slope of a hill). The north façade has a remarkable, although eroded, Renaissance-style portal called the Porta Especiosa. The three-storey portal was built in the 1530’s by French sculptor João de Ruão (Jean of Rouen). From the east side one can see the semicircular apse with its three radiating chapels, the main and the northern chapels are still Romanesque while the southern one has been rebuilt in Renaissance times. Over the transept there is a Romanesque lantern-tower with some Baroque details.
The interior of the cathedral has a nave with two aisles, a small transept, and an eastern apse with three chapels. The nave is covered by barrel vaulting and the lateral aisles by groin vaults. The nave has an upper storey, a spacious triforium (arched gallery), that could accommodate more mass attendants in the tribunes if needed. All columns of the interior have decorated capitals, mainly with vegetable motifs, but also with animals and geometric patterns. The windows of the lantern-tower and the big window in the west facade are the main sources of natural light of the cathedral. The cloister, built during the reign of Afonso II (early 13th century), is a work of the transition between Romanesque and Gothic. Each of the Gothic pointed arches that face the courtyard encompass two twin round arches in Romanesque style.
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Esta cache tem como objectivo dar a conhecer a Sé Velha de Coimbra. Podem (devem!) visitar o interior do monumento , sendo que atualmente a entrada é paga.
O container – é uma pequena cache – está escondido muito perto da Sé, num local com alguma dificuldade para estabilização do sinal de GPS.
Por favor tenham cuidado no manuseamento da cache e coloquem-na sempre de modo a garantir a sua longevidade (bem escondida e com a necessária discrição devido à presença de muitos muggles!).
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With this cache you can enjoy the views of the Old Cathedral of Coimbra. You can and you must make a visit to the interior of the monument, unfortunately you have to pay the entry.
The container - is a small Cache - hiding close to the Cathedral, there the GPS signal might not be the best there.
Please be careful handling the cache and put it back in order to always ensure the longevity (well hidden and with the necessary discretion because the presence of many muggles!).
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