University of Coimbra

The Porta Férrea, the carved stone gateway into the Paço das Escolas at the University of Coimbra in Portugal, with statues set in its niches. Through it lies the courtyard of the former royal palace that has housed the university since 1537. Coimbra's date is clear but its address was not. King Dinis founded the university in 1290, following a papal bull from Nicholas IV, and it began in Lisbon. It moved to Coimbra in 1308 and then shifted between the two cities several times before King John III settled it here for good. It is Portugal's first university, and the hilltop university area became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013.