University of Coimbra – Alta and Sofia

Students in black capes still animate the hilltop university that has crowned Coimbra for more than seven centuries. Its colleges grew through the old town; the Royal Palace of Alcáçova has housed the institution since 1537; and the Joanine Library's gilded Baroque halls rank among the world's most beautiful book rooms. A model for universities across the Portuguese-speaking world, Coimbra's Alta and Sofia were inscribed by UNESCO in 2013.