Y10 inspirational Field Trip to Coimbra
This year’s Y10 visit to Coimbra was truly a trip back in time to Portugal’s most historical and fascinating locations and events...
… and once again, three years after the pandemic, the School reintroduced Coimbra’s project.
This initiative consists of a creative and comprehensive approach to the curriculum.
Portuguese Y10 syllabus allows students to relive, in Conímbriga, the ancient Roman presence that influenced, through Latin, the modern Portuguese language.
We revisited the Battle of Aljubarrota (against Castilla) won by D. Nuno Álvares Pereira and D. João l, who married Lady Philippa of Lancaster (which gave rise to the oldest political alliance in Europe).
In Mosteiro da Batalha, we saw the magnificent tombs of D. João l, his wife and children, known as “the illustrious generation”.
As the “pièce de resistance”, we travelled in time and revisited Episode lll of the “Os Lusíadas” by Luís de Camões. We threaded in the footsteps of the deadly and passionate romance of D. Pedro and D. Inês de Castro that came to life in “Quinta das Lágrimas” where both lovers met secretly. We also visited the Monastery of “Santa Clara-a- Velha”, where Inês lived and was murdered by D. Pedro’s father’s order, D. Afonso IV because her reciprocated love for D. Pedro interfered with Portugal’s independence.
Finally, we roamed to Mosteiro de Alcobaça, where Pedro and Inês rest in their artistically outstanding tombs built by order of D. Pedro, who transferred her body from Santa Clara-a-Velha to Mosteiro de Alcobaça soon after he became king.
Centuries of Portuguese History were made available and fed the curiosity of Y10 students. I daresay there is no way the study of “Os Lusíadas” will allow students to remain indifferent to this travel through time and culture.
Bela Pinho, Secondary Portuguese Teacher
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