The Museum of Santa Casa was was the only monument that we paid to enter during our time in the city of Coimbra and the last thing I'll discuss about the city before moving on to other locations.
We hadn't planned on going in there prior to our arrival and didn't even know it existed until my wife spotted it while walking by.
The door was open to the street so we went inside and saw that you could climb the tower for only 2.00€ for a view of the city. We figured "why not," we were the only ones there and we always like a good view.
My memory of the day isn't the greatest but I believe that the price of admission gave us access to the small Chapel and the museum as well, though it's possible that we had to pay an extra 2.00€ for that. Either way we ended up doing both activities starting with the museum and then the Chapel.
The museum itself was tiny (one small room) with only a few things inside to look at. I didn't take many photos of it as you will see. I mainly focused on the Chapel and tower.
Very Brief History
The building was originally built as a monastic school in 1593 to 1604.
It was later used as a University until the mid 19th century before becoming an orphanage. It remained an orphanage until 1966.
It was declared a national monument in 1911 and added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in the year 2013.
The Bell Tower
We whipped through the museum and chapel in about three and a half minutes total. Like I said, it was small and there wasn't much to look at. The bell tower was really what we were there for anyway and it in itself was worth the low fee of admission.
Like most of these old church towers this one starts up a very narrow and winding stone staircase that makes you a little dizzy and nauseous by the time to you reach the top.
That opens up into the bell room that contains an old rickety wooden staircase fit for one individual person at a time.
I let my wife go first so she could check the safety of the staircase and report back to me ;)
Actually it's because I'm the designated photographer of the household.
You don't get shots like these by racing up ahead and rushing through things.
After climbing through a small hole in the ceiling you come to a platform on the roof of the tower.
From there you get a 360° panoramic view of the city of Coimbra.
We obviously took turns photographing each other in the standard "look out at the view" pose.
Who took the better photo, me or my wife?
Up there you can see down to the river...
as well as most of the major monuments in town, including the Universty and the Old Cathedral (below).
In the opposite direction you get a view of the newer part of the city, which is equally cool with all its colorful building facades.
We were the only ones up there so we spent some time looking out before climbing back through the hole in the floor and heading down the rickety staircase.
Be careful to watch your... BONK!
Jokes. That was obviously staged, but you could easily see it happening given how tight the squeeze was.
Were people really that much shorter back in the day or just really bad at using a tape measure?
Why are the doors and tunnels always so small? This is another good spot to watch your head upon entering and exiting.
We headed back to our car shortly afterwards and on to our next destination for the day. The city of Aveiro awaits!
Lol, that wooden staircase would have given my wife the heebs.
I think you might have edged it in the photo stakes with the framing, but don't say I said :OD
Yeah rickety staircases do the same to me.
Haha she'll end up reading your comment and hating you forever now 😆 😂
Hahaha! There are some things I never let her see on this chain!!
Haha 🤣
We your blog can get pretty racy in the comment section lol
Hey @leaky20
I scrolled through your post before reading it just now, and I kept laughing before even reading it.
Yes, it would appear they built it for midgets. I see your wife had to bend to safely exit the building. I enjoy walking through places like those, and I always say in my head "stand tall, walk tall" knowing that there is no chance I'll hit my head.
I see you did the manly thing, heh?... I take it you trust your wife's word over everything else right?... so you thought it best to send her first! That's 'special' 🤣
I've learned from experience that spiral staircases leading to towers in not somewhere I should be, because they have rules that you cannot change your mind and do a u-turn. I once had a panic claustrophobic attack and had to close my eyes and make it all the way to the top of the narrow staircase at Warrick Castle in the UK many years ago. Never again!
Nice post 🙌
PS. Where is the dog?
Yeah those towers are good for people who get claustrophobic, that's for sure.
Lol yeah, not a great saying for such places really hahah - BONK!
We didn't take the dog to Portugal. He stayed with friends that week.
These pictures are interesting to me. I am very happy to be here and get to know your beautiful places. I always wanted to go to church, but we do not have a church here in our country. The architecture of the church is really interesting
You don't have a church in your country!?! Wow that's interesting. I thought that churche's were everywhere. What is this country with no churches called? Haha 😁
Spectacular views! The town looks like something I see in the movies. Really amazing.
The space is so narrow for a climb, making it more challenging.
Yes it's a very narrow space indeed. Not great if you don't like heights.
I could imagine. Scary!
🤣
😁👍
Thanks for the support @ackhoo 😁
The view from above is really great, the way you shoot makes me feel like I'm walking with you.
Thanks. I'm glad you like it 😊 👍
The views are definitely worth a climb up and down the scary staircase
I agree 😁👍
The views are just stunning up there, worth going up the wooden last bit hahaha 🤣
Both photographs are identical so won’t choose one 😎🤓
Strange to see that all was so low. Yes, people were shorter back in the days for sure.
Thanks for sharing. The photographs are stunning.
That's the diplomatic option haha 😄
Hahaha 🤣 lol
Let’s go with that 😎👋🏻
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Beautiful photos
Thanks!😁
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Thanks I'm glad you liked it.
Ha we are all used to that.