It’s in “Largo da Freira”, near the University of Coimbra, that we find the “Sé Nova”, the Diocese of Coimbra.
The “Sé Nova”, the old Jesuit College (“Eleven Thousand Virgin”), was established in 1542 by the “Society of Jesus”. With several advances and setbacks, the construction took a century: it opened in 1640 for worship.
As the first Jesuit college in the world, there were many well known evangelizers who graduated there and spread the Christian doctrine internationally, such as the well-known Priest António Vieira. With the extinction of the “Society of Jesus”, the buildings were given to the University and to the Clergy and the Church became the “Sé”/Cathedral.
The magnificence of this Jesuit building is indisputable, the Mannerist and Baroque styles are dominant: on its Monumental front there are four statues of Jesuit saints; in the upper part of the building there are baroque features that contrast with the mannerist style present in the lower part.
The interior of the “Sé” is a single large nave with side chapels and the chancel catches our vision and dazzles us with its huge and magnificent altarpieces in Baroque gilded woodwork.
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