ENGLISH CORNER, CON LINDA JIMÉNEZ – This week’s trivia question: Why did the Municipality of Coimbra first ask Dr. Cunha to do a geological study related to the city’s Jewish history?

The city of Coimbra is located in the center of Portugal, near its Atlantic coast.  It is famous for its historic sites and the first Portuguese university, which was founded there in 1290, and which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Coimbra was also an important center of Portuguese Judaism until the Inquisition, which was established in Portugal in 1536.

Dr. Pedro Proença Cunha is a Portuguese geologist. He received his PhD in Geology and Earth Science from the University of Coimbra in 1992, and is currently Full Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at that University. Together with a team of archeologists, he has been working on a project to research the medieval Jewish community in Coimbra. Dr. Cunha gave a talk about their findings at the 12th International Zamora Sefardí Conference which was held in Zamora, Spain, in July. In this program he tells us about Coimbra and his research there.