Pombal (18/11/2014)

I took the train at 10:15 from Coimbra A train station and arrived in Pombal at 11:20. While on the train the sky was clear and sunny but by the time I had reached the town clouds had filled the sky. First thing I did was head to the supermarket Intermaché to get a sandwich for lunch, or sande com queijo e fiambre, ham and cheese. From there I went back towards the city center and reached the largest church but not the main one, the Igreja Nossa Senhora do Cardal. It had an interesting façade but the interior was quite empty apart from the first tomb where the Marquis of Pombal had been buried before being then moved in Lisbon. I then walked up a hill until I reached the castle, the main attraction of the town. The castle built in the 12th century as one of the main defense lines after the Reconquista, had been thoroughly restored in the 1940s and has now a pretty public park all around it and down the hill. The castle is not big but quite nice and the walls can be walked on all around its perimeter, The main keep, contains now a small museum depicting its history and few photographs from the early 20th century and during the restoration process in the 1940s until now. At its top sits a panoramic terrace with views over the town. Coming back down, I asked some info about other monuments in town to the guardian of the castle who gave me pamphlets on 2 museums located downtown. I then descended the hill until I reached the Marques de Pombal square where the main church or Igreja Matriz is located, is was right after noon and the door was open so I decided to head in. Inside was really small but a had a nice altar, though the façade was covered in scaffoldings due to a restoration taking place. Right beside the church sat the small museum which was unfornately closed being it a sunday. On the other side of the square was the Marques de Pombal museum which was unortunately closed for lunch, but having to wait 3 more hours for the next train and since it had started drizzling too I decided to skip it and head home instead. Next to the museum was the Carmo church which was under heavy restorations and completely close, but further on worth seeing was the 18th century bridge spanning the small river running by Pombal. I then took the 13:46 train which arrived in Coimbra at 14:42. Pombal is a nice little town, with a castle worth seeing, and can be visited in half a day.