3 Best Sights in Guarda, Coimbra and Central Portugal

This museum, housed in a stately early-17th-century palace-cum-monastery adjacent to the 18th-century Igreja da Misericórdia (Church of Mercy), is worth a visit. It documents the region's history with a collection of prehistoric and Roman objects, old paintings, arms, and ecclesiastical art.

Construction on the fortress-like Sé started in 1390 but wasn't completed until 1540. As a consequence, the imposing Gothic building also shows Renaissance and Manueline influences. Although built on a smaller and less majestic scale, the cathedral shows similarities to the great monastery at Batalha. Inside, a magnificent four-tier relief contains more than 100 carved figures. The work is attributed to the 16th-century sculptor Jean de Rouen.

This castle keep, on a small knoll above the cathedral, and a few segments of wall are all that remain of Guarda's once extensive fortifications. From the top of the ruins you get an impressive view across the rock-strewn countryside toward the Castilian plains.