Excursion Coimbra - Fatima - karst caves (with lunch) (group). Coimbra - Fatima - Karst caves (with lunch) Underground riches of Portugal: Piggy Bank cave with coins

Portugal does not end with Lisbon, of course, and is not limited solely to it. But the capital is not only very beautiful city, but also just a great starting point. It's convenient to explore the country from here. And we offer you one of such programs.

Coimbra

The tour begins from the ancient university town. It is permeated with the spirit of studenthood, free-thinking and the desire to explore the world. The university was built here back in the 13th century, and since the building itself is located on a hill, it is perfectly visible from the embankment.

We will show you the historical center of the city. It consists of a series of streets in which it is very easy to get lost. However, thanks to the guide, such trouble will not happen to you. Please note that Coimbra University is not only one of the oldest in Europe, but also one of those that continues to accept students to this day. So its traditions cannot but impress.

However, you will see not only a university, but also Cathedral cities. It was built in Romanesque style. The monastery of the Augustinian Order also became the pride of Coimbra. It is even older than the university, which in itself makes this complex unique. The King of Portugal is also buried here.

We will also have lunch in the city, after which you will go to explore the Kopilka cave. Associated with her interesting story: legend says that the robbers found a rich man whom they killed, but in the process of dividing the loot they dropped a bag of coins. They scattered, but no one could find them in the cave. As a result, the coins remained forever in the rocks. They say that money is still sometimes found there.

Due to the fact that the local rocks are rich in mineral deposits, they are strikingly colorful. Properly made lighting helped people see all the splendor of nature and the incredible brightness of different shades. To make the cave easier to explore, steps were specially cut. But in general, the state monitors and protects natural wealth, so basically nothing has been touched here.

The cave itself is an interesting combination of different rooms. Tourists even gave them names based on the associations that certain corners evoke. For example, there is an Imperfect Chapel, a Red Dome, a Waterfall, a Fountain of Tears...

The cave stretches 350 meters in length and 50 meters in depth. The stable air temperature throughout the year is kept at 18 degrees Celsius thanks to the water that oozes from the rocks. It is warm and warms the surrounding space. As a result, in winter it won’t be too hot inside, but in summer it will be pleasantly cool. The springs are safe for humans and you can safely wash your face from them.

The cave is also quite interesting for researchers. For example, scientists still find dinosaur tracks here. By the way, the entrance and exit from the cave are not the same thing. So explore the underground natural wealth It's best to have a guide so you don't get lost.

Fatima

The next point of our program. This place became a religious center after children herding animals met the Virgin Mary. She told the guys what awaits humanity. Since then, believers from all countries have flocked to these regions.

Organizational aspects

While walking around Coimbra, you can visit the university library. This pleasure costs 9 euros. For a visit to the cave, everyone over 7 years old will need to pay 6 euros.

In the XII-XIII centuries Coimbra was the first capital of Portugal. Now the city has about 140 thousand residents, of which every seventh is a student. The University of Coimbra is one of the oldest in Europe and was the only one in Portugal until 1910.
The city is divided into two parts: Upper town(it is also called the Old), which is surrounded by a fortress wall. It is there that the bulk of architectural and historical monuments are concentrated.
Another part of the settlement, the Lower Town, attracts shopping centers, restaurants and entertainment venues for every taste.
Upper and Nizhny city connects the gates of Arcade Almedina and Torre de Anto.
The most famous landmark of Coimbra is the University, built in Baroque style. Among the university premises, the most interesting is the library “Juanina Library”, built in 1717-1728. The interiors of the library are truly royally decorated! Each room is decorated in its own color style, with wall paintings and ornaments, as well as inlaid furniture made of precious wood. The library's collection, numbering 300 thousand volumes, includes books from the 16th to the end of the 18th century.

Portugal's underground wealth: Piggy Bank cave with coins. Among the many attractions of Portugal there are rare objects, which include the Grutas da Moeda cave. The name is translated into Russian as “piggy bank with coins.”
The legend of the Grutasda Moeda cave. Local residents tell old legend about the robbery and murder of a rich man by robbers, which was a common thing in those troubled times. However, that time the bandits chose the wrong place, or time, or object of their criminal enterprise. Be that as it may, the robbers did not manage to profit: they threw the lifeless body of their victim from the rocks and in their haste dropped the bag of gold, the coins scattered over the rocks, and the robbers left without any loot. Since then, the deep cave, supposedly strewn with gold, began to be called a “piggy bank with coins.”

A lucky fox hunter's find. It’s surprising that the legend about the rich cave has been around for a long time, but it was discovered only in 1971. This was done by two fox hunters, who looked into the hole behind a darting fox, and found a huge karst void. Out of curiosity, they entered the cave and found it interesting. On the very first day, the hunters discovered an amazingly beautiful hall with limestone formations. They called it the “pastor’s room” or “shepherd’s room.” For another two months, the newly minted researchers independently paved the way through the dungeon, excavating in narrow places, finding more and more halls with outlandish figures, limestone stalactites and stalagmites, lakes and waterfalls. Each new room was more amazing than the previous one.
After two months of hard work, the friends turned to professional geologists for help, who determined what calcite and clay deposits were present in the karst cave. We carried out almost hidden lighting, which allowed us to see the incredible beauty created by nature itself. In some places steps were cut down.
Soon the new cave was opened to tourists, taking measures to preserve the untouched natural beauty of the surrounding rocks and the cave itself. Many halls have been named by visitors: the Crib, the Red Dome, the Parsonage, Our Lady, the Waterfall, the Imperfect Chapel, the Fountain of Tears and even the Wedding Cake.

Tourist information:
. The length of the tourist route is 350 meters
. Maximum depth of descent - 50 meters
. The air temperature in the cave averages 18 degrees throughout the year, as it is warmed and cooled by water oozing from the rocks. It’s nice to wash your face with cool water from a thermal lake on a hot day.
. In some places you can clearly see traces of bygone eras, for example, a fossilized chain of dinosaur tracks that walked in those places during the Jurassic period 175 million years ago
. The entrance and exit to the cave is located in different places, so you should stay close to the guide

Visit Fatima is a blessed place that is visited every year by more than 5 million Catholics from all over the world.
According to legend, three Portuguese shepherd children - Jacinta and Francisco Marto, as well as their cousin Lucia dos Santos (Abobora) repeatedly witnessed the appearance of the Virgin Mary from 1915 to 1917. The saint appeared to them as the Angel of Peace. Interestingly, from May to October 1917, her visits occurred monthly on the 13th. At this time, the Virgin Mary shared revelations with the children, including initiating them into the “Three Mysteries.” This information was made public much later. Incredibly, the secrets, one way or another, related to events taking place around the world. Among other things, the Virgin Mary predicted future upheavals in Europe and dramatic changes in Russia. For a long time, adults did not believe the children’s stories, considering them to be fiction. But after some time, even the most skeptical of them realized that something magical was happening. Nowadays, everything that happened in those places is recognized by the Catholic Church as a true miracle.

Stops and inspection:
. Walk through the historic center of Quimbra
. Visit to the University Library in Quimbra - Joaninha optional (entrance fee - € 9)
. Visit to the Karst Caves (entrance fee: children under 6 years old - free / adults over 7 years old - € 6)
. Visit Fatima: Basilica of the Holy Virgin Mary

And the next day we saw a completely different Portugal, serious, solemnly quiet, and this image was embodied in Coimbra, the main university city of the country and its very first capital. It started for us on the embankment near the station (a nice building made of white and pink stone with a clock at the top). Old city located on a high hill, running from the top to the bottom with steep staircase streets. Commerciu Square, more like a rounded piece of a wide street, is located at the very bottom of the hill. From the old Romanesque yellow stone church of Santiago, located on it, a steep staircase rises to the wide Ferreira Borges street, and from there, through the high gate-arch of Almedina (the remains of a fortress wall), there is a passage to a steep narrow street decorated with garlands of multi-colored flags. The souvenir shops are colorful and elegant, with a lot of intricately painted dishes, mostly in soft blue and light gray tones. So we moved up the stairs, then along narrow cobblestone passages (each street had its own pattern of paving stones), between closely packed houses that parted on the terraces. After a steep climb we came to a small square in front of the Old Cathedral of Se Vella. The cathedral is strict, square, made of yellow stone, the teeth running along the top resemble a fortress wall. The entrance to the cathedral is covered with a cloth. A semicircular altar with carved wooden figures, a stone bowl decorated with carvings, a huge sink, walls lined with ancient tiles with almost erased designs. Immediately behind the cathedral there is a wide staircase to the top, and we found ourselves at the top of the hill, in the middle of a wide area of ​​the university campus. On Sunday, August 31, the town seemed dead. By the way, the beginning of the academic year at the university is in mid-September. Through the arch we entered the courtyard of the university, and found ourselves in a spacious square, surrounded on three sides by the square of the old university, and open on the fourth side. Feeling of whiteness and spaciousness. Several trees, a monument to King João III, who gave his Royal Palace for university and moved to Lisbon. White buildings with red tiles, in the corner there is a bell tower nicknamed “the goat”. They say the sound of its bells resembles the bleating of a goat. The central building is very beautiful, with galleries on the second floor and a magnificent, solemn three-arched portal. Everything is the same as in the old days, when St. Anthony of Padua studied here. And to this day the university in Coimbra is considered the best in Portugal. Until the end of his life, dictator Salazar wrote in the “position” column on his questionnaires that he was a professor of economics at the University of Coimbra and tried to attend academic councils.

On the occasion of Sunday, we did not get to the university library, but the university church of San Miguel delighted everyone. There are floral ornaments on a white background on the ceiling, a stunningly beautiful organ (red bowl trimmed with gold, black pipes), and bright tiles on the walls.

Then, through the deserted town, we reached the New Cathedral - Se Nova, wide, white, solemn, with a wide square in front of it. And from him they scattered to the souvenir shops and met already below, in front of the Almedina arch.

Fatima. A huge square, narrow and tall, a white cathedral with galleries open in a semicircle, a huge cross with a sketchy crucifix. People crawl along the marble path on their knees towards the temple; some have foam rubber tied to their knees. Place of mass pilgrimage for the Portuguese. And, unlike academic Coimbra, it is crowded on Sunday.

In the spring of 1917, three local shepherd children, two sisters and their little brother, had a vision of the Virgin Mary at this place, and from that day, May 13, she came to them every month on the 13th. The eldest of the girls, Lucia, heard her voice. People in the village laughed at the children, their meetings and conversations with the Mother of God, but gradually more and more people began to gather in the meadow on the 13th and, indeed, they saw a glow in the form of a female outline. The largest gathering of people was on October 13, 1917, this time the Mother of God appeared for the last time. She said to Lucia: “You will live long, and your brother and sister will soon come to me.” And three more prophecies, known in Catholicism as the “three revelations of Fatima.” The first is about the Second World War, the second is about the fate of Russia, the third is about the assassination attempt on the Pope.

All of Portugal was agitated by the incident. The Vatican's initial reaction to these events was sharply negative, but the trickle of pilgrims to the small Portuguese village grew every year. After some time, ministers from the Vatican arrived in the village of Fatima and interviewed local residents, and more than a thousand people confirmed to them that they had seen the appearance of the Virgin Mary.

The younger brother and sister soon died. Lucia became a nun and died quite recently, just shy of one hundred years old. The assassination attempt on the pope occurred exactly on May 13, and after recovery, John Paul II placed the bullet removed from him on the altar of the cathedral in Fatima. Then he met Lucia, who lived near the cathedral.

Instead of a meadow now in this place - huge complex: square, cathedral, houses for pilgrims. Huge candles (up to a meter long) are laid out under the canopy; people come up, put coins into the slot, take the candles and go to fenced-in, I would say, braziers, above which tongues of flame and black smoke rise. There, from this flame, you need to light your candle and, stretching your hand through the unbearable heat, install it in one of the sockets. The impression from the braziers is eerie.

The cathedral is light and spacious. Modern stained glass windows, sculptures and drawings of children who saw the Virgin Mary. The girl Lucia stands on the ledge, clutching a baby goat. All three are buried here.

Behind the galleries there is a park and souvenir shops with numerous statues of the Virgin Mary and crucifixes.

In the park there are cork oaks with partially cut bark. It’s a strange impression – the tree stands on a thin orange leg. A white excursion train rides around the city.

For Catholics this place is now sacred. Russian Orthodox Church has an extremely negative attitude towards all these Fatima miracles (especially the prophecy that Russia will be punished for its apostasy, expressed in the summer of 1917). The story of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God, found in the 16th century near Kazan, is also unclear. At one time, several copies were made of the icon, which were lost during the years of the revolution. Strangely, one of these lists ended up in the Portuguese outback, in the same Fatima. (In one of the sources I read that this is not a list, but the original icon stolen at the beginning of the 20th century from the Kazan Mother of God Monastery).

The surrounding area of ​​Fatima is hilly and the hills are covered with low, spreading trees. Between them are little white houses with red tiles. And this landscape is very typical of rural Portugal: hills and neat white houses.

A short drive and we are standing in the middle of a huge square, in front of the magnificent monastery of Batalha. Early Gothic, with a massive base of yellow stone and numerous gray spiers connected by a low lacy balustrade.

The monastery was erected in the middle of an open field in honor of the victory over the troops Spanish king in 1385. This battle was fundamental in the struggle for the independence of Portugal from the power of Castile. On the square in front of the cathedral there is a monument to the commander Pereira, whose skillful leadership of the troops made it possible to win the battle against an enemy several times superior.

A majestic, monumental structure. Very beautiful stained glass windows. In the octagonal chapel of the Founder of the monastery are the burial places of the royal couple and infantes. A white high dome converging in the shape of a star. From the cathedral there is an exit (paid, 5 euros) to the courtyard of the monastery, the so-called Royal. The courtyard is absolutely beautiful. For myself, I called it “Moorish”, then we were told that it was “Manueline” style. Each arch of the gallery is “curtained” with an openwork lattice carved from stone, with a variety of designs: sometimes like woven ropes, sometimes like intertwined vines, interspersed with flowers and crosses. Stone lace rests on thin, carved columns, each with its own pattern. Along the balconies and along the ridge there is an elegant, light lattice. In the corner there is a multi-petal fountain, a bowl above a bowl. The internal space is filled with tall, narrow thujas and low, trimmed bushes with labyrinthine passages cut through.

The royal court and the court of Afonso V are separated by a small museum containing examples of weapons. There was a guard of honor at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier: two guys in camouflage and black berets. The courtyard of Afonso V is much more modest, there are no stone carvings, but there you can climb to the upper galleries and look at the surroundings from a small height.

Finally, we walked around the outside of the monastery. The same grace and luxury, and in a wide area he looked like a perfect creation on an open palm, one of the brightest grains of the golden fund of universal human culture.

The monastery in Alcobaz, where we soon found ourselves, was also originally erected in honor of the battle won against the Moors, but is known rather as a monument to love, which served as a tomb for two lovers who united here forever: King Don Pedro I and Inis de Castro.

The infante first saw Inish in the retinue of his bride, a princess who had arrived from Castile. His wife died soon after the wedding, and the infante secretly married his lovely maid of honor. Four children were born. However, his father, King Afonso IV, feared that the king of Castile would influence his son through Inish (Inish belonged to a noble Castilian family). In her palace in Coimbra, Inish was killed in front of her children. Pedro brutally dealt with the murderers. When he became king after the death of his father, he tried to appoint his son from Inish as his successor, but the courtiers objected to him that the child was illegitimate. Then Pedro ordered the remains of Inish to be dug up, married the dead woman publicly and forced the courtiers to kiss the hand of his long-dead wife.

The monastery cathedral is very strict inside. In the transept there are two marble, carved sarcophagi. The lying bodies of separated lovers surrounded by angels are carved on the surface of the sarcophagi. At Pedro's feet is a marble dog, a symbol of fidelity. Pedro and Inish are buried with their feet facing each other, so that at the hour when the dead rise from their graves, they would rise and immediately see each other.

The monastery itself is quite long (from the bus we walked for a long time along the white, artless walls). The facade of the cathedral is beautiful, adjoined on both sides by the same low white walls. The façade faces a wide city square. There, on the square, directly opposite the cathedral, we settled in summer cafe have lunch. The local hit is considered to be “rooster in Alcobas style”, or “French in a pot” (this is how the Portuguese reinterpreted the French “rooster in wine”). Indeed, everyone was brought a healthy clay pot, from which they had to take out the chicken baked in wine, piece by piece. Tasty like any chicken, but no more. I was even more upset when those of us came from the cathedral and instead of lunch went to the museum and to the courtyard of the monastery. They said it was even more beautiful than the “Moorish courtyard” in Batalha. Finally, we went to a coffee shop to try local monastery sweets. They are made by grinding hot yolk with sugar and filling crispy waffle cones with this mixture. Well, it's very sickening.

Another short drive, and before dark we arrive in the town of Nazaré, our place of overnight stay. Part of the city stands on a high cliff, the other goes down to the ocean. Luckily, our hotel is located five minutes from the shore. At the level of our window, in the crown of a palm tree, small, loud-voiced birds settled down; the palm tree was simply teeming with them.

Having thrown our things, we immediately ran to the beach. The water was cold, nevertheless, everyone swam courageously. And before our eyes the sun sank into the water. After changing clothes, we went for a walk along the embankment. The town was bustling at night, all the shops were open, the cafes were full, musicians were playing on the streets, a lively stream of people moving back and forth. Ordinary resort life.

Breakfast was in the cafe on the roof of the hotel, and the sunny morning gave us wonderful views of the city, cliffs and ocean. The entire bay, from edge to edge, was filled with white houses under red tiles; on the right, the shore rose sharply, ending in the ocean steep cliffs, and the upper plateau was also covered with the same white houses. The upper and lower parts of the city were connected by a lift.

We spent this whole day in the outskirts of Lisbon, making short, about 20 km, transfers between attractions, and our acquaintance with the suburbs of the capital began with the fabulous town of Obidos, built in the 13th century, and so frozen in it. Obidos stretches like a narrow ribbon along a steep slope, surrounded on all sides by a high fortress wall. The main street runs like an axis through the entire city, from which steep, narrow streets snake up and down. As usual, the houses are white, with blue or yellow trim, all surrounded by flowers. Long lashes, strewn with crimson, yellow, and purple flowers, burst from every crack, crawl along the walls, and hang from above. We walked through the fortress gates, lined with blue and white tiles from the inside, walked along the lower street, from the church climbed the stairs to the main street and came out to ancient castle with many towers around the perimeter. There we all had already fled. I climbed the fortress wall and walked along it for some time. Directly below me, opposite the castle, was a decorative village of colorful houses. Having descended, I walked along the upper deserted streets. On the main street I found almost our entire group. Óbidos is famous for producing its own cherry liqueur, ginjna. It is customary to pour it into a chocolate cup, drink the liqueur and eat the cup (this tasting costs 1 euro). After sitting in the coffee shop and tasting the liqueur, we were already in a hurry to get to the bus, when on the fortress wall, right above the entrance gate, we saw Luda from our group. “Come up here quickly,” she shouted. Indeed, from there there was an amazing view of the city, especially if you walked a little up the wall: a narrow space, densely filled with houses and trees, squeezed by high battlements stretching into the distance. And a castle on the horizon. Once upon a time, King Dinis gave this city to his bride as a wedding gift. Probably in the same way, they climbed the tower, and the king pointed to the space spread out in front of them: “And this is for you, beloved!”

And then we went to the westernmost point of Europe, Cape Roca. The mountains became steeper, our bus climbed higher and higher, and gradually the mountain forest zone gave way to vast fields of purslane - a local cactus-succulent, of various shades - from red-brown to bright green. At a site near a small building, we got out and headed to a stele topped with a cross. On the stele is the inscription “Cabo du Roca Latitude 38°47’ Longitude 9°30’ Altitude 140 m.” At the very edge of the cliff there is a curb made of stones and to the very horizon - the rich blue of the ocean. To the right and left of the stele there are paths trodden in purslane. We walked along the cliff itself, photographing the sheer walls falling into the ocean. The landscapes are very nice, like everywhere where there are rocks and endless water surface. In the building you could buy certificates stating that you had visited the westernmost point of the continent, for 5 euros - a simple one, for 10 euros - a folding one.

The next 20 km and we enter the city of Sintra, the former summer residence of the Portuguese kings. The Moors also appreciated the beauty of these places and built a fortress on the mountain and a palace below. On the site of the Moorish palace is now the national royal palace of Sintra, and on the mountain, next to the Moorish fortress, in the century before last they built the Peno castle, after seeing which, the Moscow rich man Arseny Morozov, the nephew of Savva Morozov, had a dream to build the same in Moscow, and, indeed, , “based on” the Peno Palace on Vozdvizhenka, a Moorish castle was erected. IN Soviet time The House of Peoples' Friendship was located there.

The local aristocracy also built their houses and palaces around the royal palace; it was a luxury Portuguese resort. Even the phlegmatic and mocking Lord Byron was fascinated by the city. Sintra is connected to the ocean coast by a 14-kilometer tram line.

Unfortunately, we were given very little time to explore the city, since half of the group also wanted to see the famous Lisbon beaches of Cascais and Escoril. Me too, of course. Therefore, those who did not go to the beaches managed to explore the royal palace and climb the mountain to the Peno Palace and the Arab fortress (they were in awe of the Peno Palace). The main part of the group only saw the royal palace and walked around the city. Nina suggested that I immediately go to the mountain (she had already been to the palace on her previous trip to Portugal). The castle at the top looked very tempting, although I estimated that it was located quite high. Okay, let's go. For quite a long time we climbed through a forested park, serpentine after serpentine, but the road did not end. The rare cars that crawled up did not stop for our votes. Finally, almost at the very top, one of the cars picked us up. The two men in the car turned out to be Italians, residents of Venice. We went out to the square in front of the ticket office. At the box office you can buy both a general ticket to the Peno Palace and the fortress, and individually. I said that we have limited time, where will we have time to go? The young man replied that the palace needed more time, go to the fortress.

Along a steep path, among a shady forest, we passed the first watchtower and guardhouse and finally found ourselves on the territory of the Castelo dos Muoros fort. Immediately at the entrance, on the lowest platform, there were stone supports that once supported cisterns for collecting water. From below, paths and narrow stone stairs led in different directions, leading to the fortress wall. Along the fortress walls, we first climbed to the Royal Tower, from where we could see the Peno Palace, then to two opposite towers, from which Sintra and all its surroundings were clearly visible. Towers with multi-colored flags, stone ladders snaking along a steep slope along the fortress walls among dense greenery, tourists making their way along the walls, relaxing on benches carved out of stone, taking photographs from the towers - everything resembled a child’s game, and not at all a harsh, impregnable bastion.

Having run around the fortress, we began to descend. One of the descent paths had a sign for the Peno Palace, we chose another. After some time, I began to doubt. The square with the ticket offices, where we started our journey, still didn’t show up, I realized that we were going down to the other side of the mountain. It was necessary to either go back or climb up the slope 200 meters. We decided to climb the slope. We regretted our decision very quickly; the slope was steep, overgrown with trees and vines. Finally, I climbed out to the curb enclosing the area near the ticket office, which turned out to be up to my chest. People walked around the site and looked in surprise at me, standing in the forest behind the curb. I smiled politely at them. It was somehow awkward to climb over the fence in a skirt in front of all the honest people. At some point, the square was empty, I jumped over the obstacle and, waiting for Nina, began to walk near the ticket office. Finally, Nina’s red and out of breath head appeared over the fence, I dragged Nina, and we rushed down. There was half an hour left before we left for the beaches.

On the way we met our comrades who had neglected the beaches and were heading up. We told them what we could and moved on. On the way back we were overtaken a couple of times by a local bus. It turned out that you could get to the castle by regular bus. And now we are already on the steep streets of Sintra, making our way between closely spaced, colorful houses. Near the square in front of the palace, in the shadows, one after another, horses harnessed to carts stood patiently. For the last time I take pictures of our fortress (how high it is, were we really there?), we get on the bus and go to the ocean.

First we came to the so-called “Devil's Mouth”. In this place, the coast formed by outcrops of tectonic rocks split, and a crack 20 meters wide juts inland. They say that when a storm rages, a roar can be heard from this place. The coast itself is strange. A sintered black space, somewhere in an even stream descending to the water, somewhere in the form of rearing, rising lava, frozen in the most incredible figures. There are fishermen on the rocks.

The Cascais beach turned out to be not wide at all, sandy, with straw umbrellas and sun loungers placed along the shore. There were not enough swimmers. In the locker room we met a Russian woman with a child. “How are you resting?” - we asked. “Well, the ocean is cold, let’s lie down and sunbathe,” answered the compatriot.

The first swim was not pleasant at all. Even energetic rowing did not help warm up. And it wasn’t hot at all on the beach itself. In general, it was noticeably cooler in Portugal compared to Spain. In vain I was worried that I would languish from the heat. When I looked at the weather at home on the Internet, the temperature in Lisbon was always lower than in Madrid, by 7-9 degrees. We sunbathed, swam again and went to the coastal marishkeira, a cafe specializing in seafood dishes. Preparing for the trip, I printed out what dishes people recommend ordering in marishkeira. And then I read the name to the waiter from a piece of paper. He nodded and left.

The third swim was already quite comfortable, I got out of the water almost without chills and ran to change clothes. Soon they brought us the dish we ordered: mussels cooked in white wine with cilantro and garlic. I have never tasted anything tastier than these mussels during my entire trip. We even gulped down all the liquid with shells (there were no spoons for the dish, only small forks). Around this time, our co-bus passengers began passing from the beach to the park past our table. The mountain of shells aroused curiosity and questioning among everyone. Having finished with the mussels and paid (15 euros), we went to pick up our comrades, and soon we were entering Estoril, an aristocratic resort where many celebrities came to relax and play roulette. Last years The chess player Alekhine spent his life here, here he died an absurd, strange death on the eve of the match with Botvinnik and was initially buried here (he was later reburied in the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris).

We landed near a waterfront park (rows of palms and pine trees leading to the ocean, canals and paths) and headed to the famous casino. The dark-skinned security guard looked very expressively at our motley group pouring out of the bus, but did not move. The casino is in twilight, with the muted light of long red lamps lining the ceiling in squares. They are reflected in the mirrored black floors, and it seems that you are walking above a dark abyss, and far away, in the depths of the abyss, there are red squares. The sensations are strange and unsteady, to the point of dizziness. A huge hall lined with tables, each with two croupiers in white shirts and red vests. Having quickly lost 5 euros each, we then simply watched the players. A fascinating process. A girl from our group stubbornly bet on zero. At some point, tired of losing, she shouted to the dealer in Russian: “Well, make a zero, you can do it!” Show your skills! Magically it worked. The Portuguese threw the ball, it spun for a long time and finally froze at zero. Overjoyed, as if we had won ourselves, we emerged from the black and red space into daylight and followed our comrades to Sintra.

And here is Lisbon. Along the wide Liberdade Avenue we go to the embankment of the full-flowing Tagus River, passing the 25 October Bridge (the longest suspension bridge in Europe) with the figure of Christ on the other side. Christ faces his Brazilian counterpart, and so they look at each other across the ocean. First stop is the Jeronimos Monastery, a striking embodiment of the Manueline style, the style of the Age of Discovery that spread during the reign of Manuel I. It was built on the site of a small chapel in which Vasco da Gama (Vasco, as the Portuguese pronounce it) prayed before sailing to India . Now it is a grandiose white building, surrounded at the top by a balustrade and narrow spiers. A magnificent portal carved from stone, rising upward like boiling sea foam. The interior is spacious and majestic, with large windows letting in plenty of light. The walls and vaults are braided with ropes carved from stone; at the intersections of the ropes there are crosses, coats of arms, maritime knots, anchors. Even the floral patterns are woven into a marine theme. Extensive stone carvings. The columns are carved from top to bottom, and in the intricate design one can see the face of a lion, then a tarantula, shells, birds, and flowers. On one of the arches a string of human faces of different races is carved. The guide explained that in this way the sculptors, based on the stories and drawings of the sailors, tried to show the diversity of the peoples the sailors met on their way. At the very entrance are the sarcophagi of Vasco da Gama and the poet Camões, also covered with carvings. On Vasco’s sarcophagus there is a sailboat carved, on Camões’s there is a lyre and a feather.

And then we walked across the green lawn to the Belem (Bethlehem) Tower, and an elegant white structure (again, I want to say “in the Moorish style,” no, Manueline, of course) grew before our eyes. For centuries, caravels sailed past this lighthouse tower, some dissolved in the ocean, others, loaded with spices and gold, entered the port. And, like ships, time flowed, century after century, and the Portuguese, dangling their feet in the ocean, looked into the Atlantic distance, from where wealth flowed and flowed into the country. And we thought it would be like this forever. And when the flow stopped, they took their eyes off the shiny, unsteady surface, looked around and suddenly discovered a poor country around them, without plants and factories. The monarchy was overthrown in 1910, but the republic did not last long. Fortunately for Portugal, the dictator Salazar, a professor of economics at the University of Coimbra, came to power, who with a firm hand for many years taught the country to live by its own labor, and not by plunder, created industry, and prevented the country from being drawn into the Second World War. world war. And in this the fates of Spain and Portugal are similar. One had Columbus, the other Vasco da Gama, vast colonies around the world that did a disservice to the development of countries. In Spain, which was left without colonies, unrest, terrorism, and the rise of anarchism also began, and only under the dictatorial regime of Franco the country came to its senses and began to develop from its own sources.

Monument to the Discoverers - a huge stone sailboat on the shore wide Tagus. Ahead is Henry the Navigator, on both sides of the sail are those who went to dangerous journeys in search of new lands: sailors, merchants, priests, some with a sword, some with a cross and scrolls, some with a chest. The monument is very energetic, expressive, the figures are full of movement and in a single impulse are directed forward. And only a single female figure, at the very end of the unstoppable stream of men rushing past her, dropped to her knees and pressed her hands to her chest, frozen in bitter anticipation.

The area near the monument is paved with paving stones made of alternating waves of black and light stone (the same paving stones are found in the main square of Lisbon - Rossio). Immediately behind the monument, on the sidewalk, there is a mosaic map of the geographical discoveries made by Portuguese navigators: continents and caravels sailing in different directions. From here, through the park with thujas and a fountain, the Jeronimos Monastery looks like a fabulous oriental palace.

Then we went to the famous old Cafe Pasteix, where paste cakes are made. The walls of the cafe are tiled with azulejos, the paintings on the walls are also made of tiles. Paste is a round, small, soft pastry bun that should be eaten hot, first sprinkled with cinnamon and powder. Before that, I tried this delicacy in Fatima (delicious!) and in Óbidos, but they say that only this cafe prepares the “correct” pasta, and the recipe is kept secret. In fact, I would find it difficult to say what components it is made of. The coffee was excellent (as, indeed, everywhere in Portugal).

Then we drove around the city further, reached the ancient district of Alfama and came out on Commerciu Square, a wide space limited on three sides by buildings, and the fourth facing the river. Through the Arc de Triomphe we came out onto the crowded pedestrian street Augusto with light paving stones lined with wide squares, and along it, past souvenir shops and cafes, past funny “living” sculptures, past the Santa Justa lift (a metal cabin on a high thin leg) we reached cheerful, lively Rossio Square. Fountains were playing in the square, in the shade of trees, passers-by were resting on benches, in front of the theater building, on a high white column, stood a black monument to King Pedro IV, and black and white waves of paving stones scattered across the ground, so that it seemed that the surface was also underfoot wavy. And nothing reminded of the fires of the Inquisition that once burned here (the palace of the Inquisition stood on the site of the theater) and of the later bullfights - torradas.

From the station building we walked along a nearby street, and Vera showed us an inexpensive cafe. In general, we must give her credit, she always pointed out to us places where we could eat inexpensively and tasty, and guided us on what dishes in which cities are considered traditional and what is best to order. As a result, we gained insight into local culinary traditions and spent significantly less money on food than we had expected.

The tour ended here, and we went to the Gyulbekian Museum. Near the San Justa lift, we entered the Baixa Chiado metro and took the blue line 5 stops to Plaza de España. To enter the metro you need to buy a cardboard card for one and a half euros, and you can use it to buy the required number of trips, half a euro for each. You insert the card into the turnstile at the entrance and exit.

Calouste Gyulbekyan, an Armenian by origin, was born in Turkey, studied in England and had English citizenship, lived in Paris for a long time, and during the war he moved to neutral Portugal, where he remained until the end of his life. He made his enormous fortune from shares in oil companies. He was a passionate collector and during his life he collected a rich collection of art objects. From the Hermitage alone, the collection of which the Soviet government began to sell off in the late twenties, he acquired more than 50 works.

The museum is one-story, but extensive, located among a small park. Ticket – 4 euros for the main halls, 7 euros – including current exhibitions and the library. I recommend taking it for 4, there was nothing interesting at the current exhibitions.

The collection is amazing, selected with the greatest taste and consists entirely of masterpieces. Paintings from the 15th century to the Impressionists, Egyptian bowls, statues, Persian carpets, ceramics and coins from different centuries and peoples, ancient bibles, carved iconostases, furniture, tapestries, Sèvres porcelain, and in the last rooms - jewelry.

After the museum, we returned to the center and went to the cafe indicated by Vera (from the Rossiu station, walk a little along the street parallel to Rossiu Square, the entrance is opposite the shoe store). We got some food (buffet, unlimited number of approaches) and ordered beer. Everything was delicious. Our lunch cost 8 euros. In general, Portuguese prices were pleasing compared to the average European ones.

After lunch we went to the Santa Justa ski lift. There was a small queue for about ten minutes in front of the booth. Tickets are sold directly in the booth - 2.5 euros. Having risen 32 meters, we came to the observation deck, from which spiral staircase moved up to the next level. There is also a cafe there. From above, the first thing that catches your eye is a massive, gray castle with battlements on the opposite wooded hill - the fortress of San Jorge (later it turned out that half of our group rushed there). The space between the two hills is filled with neat rows of houses stretched towards the river. All the same mostly white houses (with splashes of azulejo) and red tiles. As a result of the earthquake in 1755 most of Lisbon was destroyed. The low-lying part was especially damaged, so they rebuilt it, adhering to a regular layout. The area over which we ascended is called Baisha, “lowland.” Rossio Square looks beautiful from here with its two round fountains, a theater, rows of linden trees and a column in the center.

From the observation deck we crossed the bridge onto the hillside and found ourselves on the cozy, green square of Carmu (small squares are called largo, large ones - praca) in front of the church destroyed by the earthquake (now there is an archeology museum). From there we reached Largo Chiado, in the center of which the poet António Ribeira (nicknamed Chiado, i.e. “the crafty one”) sits on a white pedestal, with a perky smile on his face, with his hand raised, as if caught in the midst of a friendly, cheerful conversation. Another poet, Fernando Pessoa, who lived three centuries later, sat at a table in a summer cafe, right here, in the middle of the sidewalk. In an elegant jacket and hat, he casually threw his shoe over the knee of his other leg, and on the other side, more and more tourists were sitting down at his table.

Right there, literally a stone's throw away, on the spacious Camões Square, there is a monument to the third poet - Luis Camões, a man of an amazing destiny, full of adventures and great love carried throughout his life. For the Portuguese he means the same as Pushkin for the Russians (by the way, Pushkin really appreciated Camões). The day of his death, June 10, is popularly celebrated and called Portugal Day. The black monument to the poet with a sword and a book is elevated on a white octagonal stepped pedestal, and at its foot are eight figures of prominent Portuguese. Floating caravels are laid out on the paving stones around the monument.

Through the sloping streets of Lisbon we came to observation deck Matadoro di Santa Catarina. This area apparently serves as a gathering place for local youth. In any case, on this fine September day it was full of people, everything you could sit on was occupied: tables in the summer cafe, benches, steps of the stairs, the high border around the lawn. Those who didn't get it seating, just lying on the lawn. The surrounding views were not too impressive. The April 25 Bridge is clearly visible, and near it there is a varied development of modern neighborhoods.

The streets in this area are striking in their steepness. Sometimes they just turn into stairs. You look, and there, inside the hole, another house is rising. It's amazing how traffic moves here! Some facades are decorated with tiles; some are very nice. But there are also many that would be nice to clean from street dirt and grime. There are many dilapidated and shabby houses, with inscriptions and drawings on the walls.

We went out to the poets again. We went into two churches facing each other next to Camões. And then along Serpa Pinto Street we reached the square of two theaters: San Carlos and San Luis (also facing each other). Past the Chiado Art Museum we went down to Arsenal Street (the area is very deserted, dirty and unpleasant) and soon found ourselves in Municipiu Square with the white, three-story municipal building and a twisted column in front of it. Around the column, concentric circles of black and white triangles scattered across the paving stones. A little more - and we are on Commerciu Square, walking along the endless gallery. We went out to Sebolash Square, overlooking the river. Among the palm trees, a tram rolled quickly along it. Opposite is a remarkable house, the Casa dos Bicos (house of beaks), with unusual, asymmetrically arranged windows and a facade decorated with protruding pyramids. This is already the Alfama district, one of the oldest in the city, which miraculously survived the earthquake. From the square we walked up the alleys to the monumental Se Cathedral, which looked more like a fortress. Tall battlements extend from the back of the cathedral. Both bell towers also end in battlements. A tram jumped out from behind the cathedral and rolled down. The trams here are very cute: short, plump, brightly colored.

A little further down the street is the Church of St. Anthony of Padua (built on the spot where Anthony was born). In front of the church is a monument to the saint: on the black arches stands a saint with a book, a baby clinging to him.

By eight in the evening we went down to Commerciu Square, where the bus was waiting for us. And we went to listen to fado.

They say that in the soul of the Portuguese there live 3 “f”: Fatima, fado and football. We saw Fatima, we have an idea about football, all that remains is to listen to Fado.

The fado house where we arrived is low, decorated inside with luxurious azulejos and photographs of fadistas, fado performers. In the central hall there is a stage in the middle, from which long tables radiate. First - dinner (nothing remarkable, I only remember excellent white wine). After the hot food was served, the lights were dimmed, and two pairs of dancers appeared on stage in national clothes and they danced a local dance to the accordion, mischievously and with sparkle. Then the fado performers began to come out one after another: three women and a man. The singing was accompanied by two guitarists, one on a classical guitar, the other on a round Portuguese guitar. Fados are passionate, drawn-out songs in which sailors, as well as the wives waiting for them, originally expressed their longing and pain from parting. IN modern form, more generally - complaints about a bitter fate. One performer succeeded another, but the last singer, a man, had the greatest success. After the last song stopped, the lights in the hall were turned on. Many women had tears in their eyes. Even without understanding the words, people were fascinated by the pain and passion emanating from fado.

Late in the evening we returned to the hotel. By the way, a Russian guy Anton worked at the reception there. In general, I was surprised by the number of Russians living in Lisbon. Both in the subway and at the construction site (when we passed construction workers in the Alfama area, they spoke to each other in Russian).

To be honest, I didn’t like Lisbon very much; it seemed neglected and shabby, certainly interesting and original, but lacking the charm that came from, say, Coimbra or lovely Obidos. And, in general, there was no regret that we were leaving him so soon.

This is an old university town, thoroughly imbued with a unique student atmosphere. The university, built in 1290, is located on a mountain, so it is clearly visible from the embankment. Historical Center The city is an intricate web of narrow ancient streets in which it is easy to get lost. However, the residents of the town are very friendly, and more than a third of them are associated with the university. It should be noted that the University of Coimbra is the oldest university in Europe, and it still operates to this day.

You'll see the magnificent Romanesque Cathedral of Se Vel and the Augustinian monastery of Santa Cruz, which dates back to the 12th century. King Alfonso Henriques I and his son Sancho I are buried there. If you go to Coimbra during the festival, you are sure to meet many people in original cloaks with distinctive faculty ribbons. Dinner.

Underground riches of Portugal: Piggy Bank cave with coins

Among the many attractions of Portugal there are rare objects, which include the GrutasdaMoeda cave. The name is translated into Russian as “Piggy Bank with Coins”.

The legend of the GrutasdaMoeda cave

Local residents tell an old legend about the robbery and murder of a rich man by robbers, which was a common occurrence in those troubled times. However, that time the bandits chose the wrong place, or time, or object of their criminal enterprise. Be that as it may, the robbers did not manage to profit: they threw the lifeless body of their victim from the rocks and in their haste dropped the bag of gold, the coins scattered over the rocks, and the robbers left without any loot. Since then, the deep cave, supposedly strewn with gold, began to be called the Piggy Bank with Coins.

A lucky fox hunter's find

It’s surprising that the legend about the rich cave has been around for a long time, but it was discovered only in 1971. This was done by two fox hunters, who looked into the hole behind a darting fox, and found a huge karst void. Out of curiosity, they entered the cave and found it interesting. On the very first day, the hunters discovered an amazingly beautiful hall with limestone formations. They called it the “pastor’s room” or “shepherd’s room.” For another two months, the newly minted researchers independently paved the way through the dungeon, excavating in narrow places, finding more and more halls with outlandish figures, limestone stalactites and stalagmites, lakes and waterfalls. Each new room was more amazing than the previous one.

After two months of hard work, the friends turned to professional geologists for help, who determined what calcinites and clay deposits were present in the karst cave. We carried out almost hidden lighting, which allowed us to see the incredible beauty created by nature itself. In some places steps were cut down.

Soon the new cave was opened to tourists, taking measures to preserve the untouched natural beauty of the surrounding rocks and the cave itself. Many halls have been named by visitors: the Crib, the Red Dome, the Parsonage, Our Lady, the Waterfall, the Imperfect Chapel, the Fountain of Tears and even the Wedding Cake.

Information for tourists:

The length of the tourist route is 350 meters.

The maximum depth of descent is 50 meters.

The air temperature in the cave averages +18 °C throughout the year, as it is warmed and cooled by water oozing from the rocks. It’s nice to wash your face with cool water from a thermal lake on a hot day.

In some places you can clearly see traces of bygone eras, for example, a fossilized chain of dinosaur tracks that walked in those places during the Jurassic period 175 million years ago.

The entrance and exit to the cave are in different places, so you should stay close to the guide.

Fatima

Fatima has been a famous religious center for almost a century. The events that took place in these places between 1915 and 1917 are called by the Catholic Church a true miracle. You will hear a story about how shepherd children met the Virgin Mary, who introduced herself to them as the Angel of Peace and told them about upcoming events. Every year, pilgrims from many countries come to Fatima to see with their own eyes the place where miracles happened.

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Founded on the site of the Roman settlement of Eminium, Coimbra for a hundred years it was the capital of the Kingdom of Portugal. 6 kings were born in Coimbra, and the tomb of the first monarch of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, is also located here. Everything here breathes history, everything here - cathedrals and palaces, streets and squares - is part of the great cultural heritage.

Coimbra is home to one of the oldest universities in Europe, which is still in operation. Of particular interest are the university library with its rich collection of ancient books and the museum of religious art, also located within the university walls.

Parents with children will be interested in visiting the Portugal in Miniature park, where both children and adults can explore small copies of famous buildings in Portugal.

Coimbra got its name from ancient settlement Conimbriga, located fifteen kilometers to the south, but abandoned in the 6th century. after the invasion of vandals. Conimbriga is the largest and most studied Roman excavation site in Portugal. There is evidence that the Romans were present here already in the 2nd century. BC, and later the city became a place on the Roman road between Lisbon and Braga. Conimbriga is home to one of the largest mansions of the Western Roman Empire - the rich villa Casa de Cantaber.

COIMBRA, FATIMA, KARST CAVES
GROUP – TUESDAY (07:00-18:00) –

The excursion introduces ancient capital Portugal - city Coimbra and its ancient university, and also includes visit to Fatima and exciting journey through karst caves. Travel to Coimbra by train or bus, the guide will meet you in Coimbra at the station. Return to Lisbon with the group by bus. During the excursion you will be offered lunch in a traditional restaurant.

For reference:

Fatima– this place in the very center of Portugal is sacred to Christians all over the world. It was here, according to legend, that the Most Pure Virgin appeared to the world in 1917. On a huge square, which is 2 times larger than St. Peter's Square in Rome, is the magnificent Basilica of the Holy Virgin, which was built in the neo-Baroque style.

Among the many attractions of Portugal there are rare objects, which include karst cave Grutas da Moeda. The name is translated into Russian as “piggy bank with coins.” You will discover amazingly beautiful halls with limestone formations reminiscent of statues and bas-reliefs.

Entrance tickets are paid additionally:
Visit to the University Library in Coimbra – 9 euros (optional).
Visit to Karst caves – 6 euros.

Lunch included.