The Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC) is the

students' union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

of the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coi ...

(UC). Founded in

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...

on November 3, 1887, it is the oldest students' union in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. It is also the biggest Portuguese students' union belonging to an independent institution, since it represents all the students of its

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, who gain automatic membership into the AAC as students of the University of Coimbra (25,580 students as of 2021). In addition to several departments dedicated to culture and student life, ranging from theatre and musical groups to radio and cinematography, the AAC has several sports' departments based in Coimbra. All teams and athletes of the AAC sports departments bear the same name and logo with black uniforms. This is one of the largest

sports clubs A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

of Portugal. The Associação Académica de Coimbra - O.A.F. is one of its better known organizations across Portugal due to a historical presence on the main Portuguese Football Championships and the popularity of football in the country. In rugby (

Portuguese Rugby Union Championship Campeonato Nacional de Rugby is the main rugby union competition in Portugal. This championship is organized by the Portuguese Rugby Federation. The competition is organized into three Divisions: * CN Honra/Super Bock (8 teams) * Campeonato Naciona ...

), volleyball (

Portuguese Volleyball Championship The Portuguese Volleyball First Division (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Campeonato Nacional de Voleibol – I Divisão'') is the top men's volleyball league in Portugal. The competition, which is organised by the Portuguese Volleyball Federati ...

) and basketball (

Portuguese Basketball League (LCB) The Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol ( en, Portuguese Basketball League), also known as Liga Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional club basketball league in Portugal. History From the 2008–09 season onward, the competiti ...

) top flight competitions, through the

Associação Académica de Coimbra (rugby union) Associação Académica de Coimbra, Rugby is one of the leading teams of rugby union in Portugal.Julia Wilkinson, John King Lonely Planet ''Portugal'' 2003 -- Page 324 "Académica is the name of Coimbra's second-division football team and its first- ...

, the

Associação Académica de Coimbra (volleyball) The Coimbra Academic Association - volleyball (Portuguese: ''Associação Académica de Coimbra - Secção de Voleibol'') is the volleyball sports section of the Coimbra Academic Association, from Coimbra, Portugal. The AAC Voleibol team won the ...

and the

Associação Académica de Coimbra (basketball) Associação Académica de Coimbra B.C. is a Portuguese professional basketball club. The club competes in the Portuguese Basketball League. It is part of the Associação Académica de Coimbra The Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC) is the ...

departments, the AAC has also been represented at the highest level in the Portuguese major competitions across its history, as well as in several

olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

sports ranging from athletics to martial arts disciplines. The chess team has been Portuguese champion on several occasions.

History

The Associação Académica de Coimbra was predated by several older student organisations, for example the

Orfeon Académico de Coimbra Orfeon Académico de Coimbra (O.A.C.) is the oldest and one of the most famous academic choirs in Portugal. It was established in 1880 by the then University of Coimbra's law student João Arroio, with the name ''Sociedade Choral do Orpheon Académ ...

(1880). This choir remains as an autonomous entity within the association. The Associação Académica was founded on the base of the student dramatic society, the Academia Dramática de Coimbra (1849-1887). The main mover was a law student

António Luís Gomes António Luís Gomes (23 September 1863 in Porto – 28 August 1961) was a Portuguese jurist and Portuguese Republican Party politician. He married Maria José Medeiros de Oliveira, and was father of the mathematician Ruy Luís Gomes. As a s ...

. In 1971, student protests against policies of the Estado Novo regime led to the Associação Académica being closed down, preceding a round of repression.

Organization

The AAC is governed by a "D.G. - Direcção Geral" (Directorate-General, the main board) made up entirely of students of the University of Coimbra; yearly elections take place to name the members of this board, any student can sign up to be a candidate. All the students of UC are entitled to vote for the AAC board. The current president of the main board is João Assunção. Since the late 1990s inside the AAC structure have been created several local student unions, representing courses, departments or sometimes faculties/colleges. Known as “Núcleos” (Portuguese for nucleus), these semi-independent unions have their own elected internal organs. All of them represent a major role in the AAC political, cultural, sportive and social life. In 2008 the AAC comprehended 25 of such unions, of which NEFLUC (Students union of the Faculty of Letters) is the biggest, representing nearly 3000 students. Students in robes (for the first week of the class year)

Students in robes (for the first week of the class year)

The main building of the Coimbra's Academic Association was inaugurated in 1961 and holds the offices of many

''(secções desportivas)'' and arts sections ''(secções culturais)''. There are also rehearsal halls, a medical centre, academic services, extensive indoor gardens, a theatre-cinema with approximately 1,000 seats (''Teatro Académico de Gil Vicente''), and a café–restaurant where many students meet up and enjoy a wide selection of foods. AAC is the

umbrella organization An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

for a number of autonomous entities, the ''organismos autónomos''. Some of its better known former members include

Salgado Zenha Francisco Salgado Zenha GCL (2 May 1923, Braga – 1 November 1993, Lisbon) was a Portuguese left-wing politician and lawyer. As a student at the University of Coimbra, he was elected president of the Academic Association of Coimbra, bein ...

, Manuel Alegre,

António de Almeida Santos Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ma ...

Miguel Torga Miguel Torga (), pseudonym of Adolfo Correia da Rocha ( São Martinho de Anta, Sabrosa, Vila Real district, 12 August 1907 – Coimbra, 17 January 1995), is considered one of the greatest Portuguese writers of the 20th century. He wrote poe ...

António Nobre António Pereira Nobre (16 August 1867 – 18 March 1900) was a Portugal, Portuguese poet. His masterpiece, ''Só (poem collection), Só'' (Paris, 1892), was the only book he published. Life Northern Portugal Nobre was a member of a wealth ...

Vergílio Ferreira Vergílio António Ferreira, JOSE (Melo, Gouveia, 28 January 1916 – Lisbon, 1 March 1996) was a Portuguese writer, essayist, professor and a key figure in Portuguese-language literature. His prolific literary output, comprising works of f ...

Zeca Afonso Zeca may refer to: * José Afonso (1929–1987), Portuguese folk and political musician also known mononymously as Zeca * Zeca (footballer, born 1946), full name Jose Luiz Ferreira Rodrigues, Brazilian football manager known mononymously as Zeca * ...

, and

Adriano Correia de Oliveira Adriano Maria Correia Gomes de Oliveira, GCIH, ComL, or just Adriano (April 9, 1942 – October 16, 1982) was a Portuguese musician, born to a conservative Roman Catholic family in Porto. His family moved to Avintes after his birth. He went to ...

. In addition, the AAC is the organizing and regulating body of the typical student ''

Praxe The Portuguese term praxe ( from the Greek πρᾶξις, ''praxis'') describes the whole of student traditions in universities or, more often, to the initiation rituals freshmen are subjected to in some Portuguese universities. Praxe is re ...

'' (Praxis) of the University of Coimbra (UC), a rich tradition of rituals and festivities organized by UC's students, for the students.

Sports sections

Many sports teams and athletes of the AAC sports clubs have been regularly involved with major national and international sports clubs and competitions. The AAC sports clubs hold many of their training sessions and games in the

University Stadium and Sports Complex of the University of Coimbra The Coimbra University Stadium (Portuguese: ''Estádio Universitário de Coimbra''), or EUC, is an extensive sports complex of the University of Coimbra on Mondego River, Mondego's left bank, in Santa Clara, Coimbra, Santa Clara parish, in the cit ...

located in the Santa Clara area of the city, in the southern bank of the Mondego river. There is also the historical ''Campo de Santa Cruz'' close by the ''Pólo I'' campus of the University of Coimbra, the oldest campus of this university, which as facilities that include 2 fields for the practice of several sports events including football, rugby and baseball. The AAC sports clubs include: *

Archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

since 1994.Josh Chetwynd ''Baseball in Europe: A Country by Country History'' 2008- Page 222 "That season also marked the start of the Associacao Académica de Coimbra's involvement with the sport. The students' union of the University of Coimbra features several sports and cultural sections as well as autonomous organizations. *

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

: is played at '' Pavilhão Multiusos de Coimbra''. The team ( Associação Académica de Coimbra - basketball) currently plays in the highest level of Portuguese basketball, the

Portuguese Basketball Premier League The Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol ( en, Portuguese Basketball League), also known as Liga Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional club basketball league in Portugal. History From the 2008–09 season onward, the competiti ...

. *

Body building Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses o ...

Boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

Canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

Competitive swimming Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

Fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

Handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

*Motorized sports *Nautical sports *Radio-controlled car *

Rink hockey Roller hockey (in British English), rink hockey (in American English) or quad hockey is a team sport played on roller skates. It is the only quad skate team sport in existence where two teams face-off against one another at the same time. Two t ...

: The team has been a major contender in the Portuguese top level rugby union championship. They represented Portugal once at the

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

, as an amateur side, for the season of 2004/05, being eliminated by

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

, from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, after heavy losses of 3-98, home, and 3-107, away, in an aggregate of 6-205. Académica didn't attend the

European Shield The European Shield (known as the Parker Pen Shield for sponsorship reasons) was a repechage tournament for teams knocked out in the first round of the European Challenge Cup. As such, it formed Europe's third-tier club rugby union competition ...

the same season. The Coimbra side had one of its players,

Rui Cordeiro Rui Pedro Godinho Cordeiro (born 14 October 1976) is a Portuguese former rugby union footballer. He played as a prop. He has a degree in veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, manage ...

, in the

Portugal national rugby union team The Portugal national rugby union team (Portuguese: Seleção Portuguesa de Rugby), nicknamed Os Lobos (''The Wolves''), represents Portugal in men's international rugby union competitions. The team as well as all rugby union in Portugal is admi ...

which was present at the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

. *

Roller skating Roller skating is the act of traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sid ...

Sport fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishing ...

Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

: The team currently plays in the

Portuguese Volleyball League A1 The Portuguese Volleyball First Division (Portuguese: ''Campeonato Nacional de Voleibol – I Divisão'') is the top men's volleyball league in Portugal. The competition, which is organised by the Portuguese Volleyball Federation, was called Honor ...

. *

Weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

Arts sections

Among the Arts sections of the AAC, the Coimbra's University radio station is best known for its unique profile, youthful and refreshing attitude and ''avant-garde'' style. All the cultural sections of AAC are open to the entire society, promoting respected events, workshops and courses, both for students and the city community. AAC cultural sections include: *

Astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

Cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

Ecological Group
Founded in 1974, it is a place for debate, divulgation and intervention on ecological manners. *'' Fado de Coimbra'' music *

Gastronomy Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gastr ...

Human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

Informatics Informatics is the study of computational systems, especially those for data storage and retrieval. According to ACM ''Europe and'' ''Informatics Europe'', informatics is synonymous with computer science and computing as a profession, in which ...

Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

: A Cabra (university newspaper) *

Philately Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is poss ...

* Portuguese language and culture divulgation *

Radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

: ''

Rádio Universidade de Coimbra Coimbra University Radio (Portuguese: Rádio Universidade de Coimbra - RUC) is a university radio station of the Coimbra Academic Association (students' union) of the University of Coimbra in Coimbra, Portugal. It broadcasts on 107.9 FM (also broa ...

'' *Student SOS - Phone line to support and help students with any kind of personal problems *

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

''TV-AAC''
*

Writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...

and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

Autonomous organisations

Besides the sports clubs and the arts sections of the Associação Académica de Coimbra, there are also independent organisations within the AAC, the ''Organismos Autónomos''. Such as the above-mentioned

(1880), which today represents the city of Coimbra and the university during its world tours. The same applies to the main

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team of the AAC, the Associação Académica de Coimbra – O.A.F., usually known as "Académica" or "Briosa". This team is amongst the top Portuguese football leagues and was created in 1887. It is a professional football club, established by the AAC and also part of the AAC as an independent club. The AAC football club was the first ever winner of the Portuguese Football Cup, in 1939. Among the autonomous organisations of AAC there are also some well reputed theatre groups with a vast curriculum of acclaimed performances and playing a critical part in the city's cultural life. AAC autonomous organisations include: *

Choral music A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

: OAC - Orfeon Académico de Coimbra an
''CMUC - Coro Misto da Universidade de Coimbra''
*

Folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

and

Ethnography Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

''Grupo de Etnografia e Folclore da Academia de Coimbra''
* Professional football team: Associação Académica de Coimbra - O.A.F. *

Music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

''Tuna Académica da Universidade de Coimbra''
*

Plastic arts Plastic arts are art forms which involve physical manipulation of a plastic medium by molding or modeling such as sculpture or ceramics. Less often the term may be used broadly for all the visual arts (such as painting, sculpture, film and pho ...

''Círculo de Artes Plásticas de Coimbra''
*

Theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

''TEUC - Teatro dos Estudantes da Universidade de Coimbra''
an
''CITAC - Círculo de Iniciação Teatral da Academia de Coimbra''

Events

The AAC is also responsible for the organization of the ''

Queima das Fitas The Queima das Fitas (Portuguese for ''Ribbon Burning'') is a traditional festivity of the students of some Portuguese universities, organized originally by the students of the University of Coimbra. History The first ''Queima das Fitas'' was or ...

'', one of the biggest student festivals in Europe and a great event in the city. The '' Festa das Latas'', a smaller-scale event is the freshman's week of the University of Coimbra, also organised by the AAC. The AAC is the official body of the traditional ''

'', a sort of students' rite of passage, created by students of the University of Coimbra, which has a

code of conduct A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party or an organization. Companies' codes of conduct A company code of conduct is a set of rules which is commonly writt ...

, the ''Código da Praxe''), a book published within the students' union.

The Symbol

Before the current logo, the AAC used to be represented by a black cape to reflect the university's traditional students' uniform. The AAC logo was created by Francisco Pimentel in 1927 by request of the AAC's ''Main board''. The logo of the Associação Académica de Coimbra has a stylized drawing of the tower of the university and the acronym AAC. The Tower of Coimbra's University is the city's «ex-libris» with its iconic bell. The tower's bell is known amongst the students as the ''cabra'' (she-goat). The tower is of

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style by the school of the German-born architect Ludovice who built it between 1728 and 1733. It is almost 34 metres high, and has a narrow and circular staircase which leads to a

belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa * Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco *Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...

with remarkable views over the university, the historical part of the city centre and the river Mondego.

AAC uniqueness

University of Coimbra's AAC is the biggest organization of its kind in Europe. It is also the oldest in Portugal. AAC has a long history and unmatched reputation in student sports, cultural activities, and political activism. With a long history of struggle against unpopular state policies, forming notable politicians and intellectuals along the way, it also harbours a very dynamic associative life. Other similar students' unions in the country, such as ''( Associação Académica da Universidade de Lisboa)'' (

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...

), ''Associação Académica da Universidade de Aveiro'' (

University of Aveiro The University of Aveiro ( pt, Universidade de Aveiro) is a public university, in addition to providing polytechnic education, located in the Portuguese city of Aveiro. Founded in 1973, it has a student population of approximately 12,500, distri ...

), ''Associação Académica da Universidade da Beira Interior'' (

University of Beira Interior The University of Beira Interior (UBI; Portuguese: ) is a public university located in the city of Covilhã, Portugal. It was created in 1979, and has about 6,879 students distributed across a multiplicity of graduation courses, awarding all a ...

), ''Associação Académica da Universidade do Minho'' (

Minho University The University of Minho (''Universidade do Minho'') is a public university in Portugal, divided into the following campuses: * Largo do Paço (rectorate), in Braga * Campus of Gualtar, in Braga * Convento dos Congregados, in Braga * Campus of Az ...

), or ''Associação Académica da Universidade do Algarve'' (

University of the Algarve The University of Algarve (UAlg), founded in 1979, is a Portuguese public higher education institution located in the southernmost region of mainland Portugal, the Algarve, having its headquarters and two out of its three campuses in Faro (name ...

), are smaller students' unions by number of associates because its universities have a smaller number of students or because the universities' student's aren't automatically members of the union, with a membership fee being required. In other places in Portugal, there are many independent faculty, college, institute and school organizations of students from many mother-institutions (universities or polytechnical institutes) that are not representative of the whole mother-institution, being this fragmentation the reason for their smaller size, importance, and strength. There are also federations of students' unions comprising public and private, university and polytechnic independent and not related institutions from a city, like ''FAP - Federação Académica do Porto'' (from

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

) which is the largest students organization in the country, that do not represent a single university or polytechnic, but many independent federated students' unions from institutions of the most diverse kind.