In Depth in Coimbra

Portugal's Romeo & Juliet

Coimbra's reputation for romance derives in part from the 14th-century story of Pedro the Cruel and Inês de Castro. The crown prince and the Spanish beauty, his wife's lady-in-waiting, fell in love at what's now the Hotel Quinta das Lágrimas, where Inês was then living. Unhappy with the influence Inês had over his son, Pedro's father, Afonso IV, eventually ordered her death. Three noblemen slit her throat in the quinta's garden. In the Igreja e Mosteiro da Santa Cruz, Pedro forced his courtiers to pay homage to her corpse and kiss her hand. The lovers are buried together in Alcobaça's Mosteiro de Santa Maria.