The Colégio de São Boaventura, dating from the 16th century and which is part of the Coimbra complex classified as a World Heritage Site, is for sale by private individuals, but the municipality admits that it will be difficult to proceed with its purchase.
The school, located on Rua da Sofia, began to be built in 1543 and closed in the 19th century, with the end of religious orders, having had various occupations since then, such as a metalworks, or, in the 20th century, on the ground floor, the Reis & Simões supermarket which closed at the end of the 1990s and whose heirs came forward a few years ago with the decision to sell the property, which is unoccupied (one of the last tenants to leave was the PCP, which had its Work Center there).
The property is for sale for 1.75 million euros, in addition to two other fractions (which include the old nave of the school’s church), which are owned by two other owners and are for sale for 750 thousand euros, real estate agent Miguel Cunha told the Lusa agency.
The school was close to being sold in 2024, but the deal ended up not being completed, he added, noting that the property has been closed “for a long time”.
In the summer of this year, the person responsible for the management plan for the property classified in Coimbra as World Heritage, Luísa Trindade, warned about the state of abandonment of the heritage on Rua da Sofia, having defended, at the time of presentation of that strategic document, the purchase of at least two properties on Rua da Sofia, where a large part of the schools are privately owned.
According to João Amaro, one of the heirs, his great-grandparents, with several investments in the region, bought the Colégio de São Boaventura around 1920, where in addition to the supermarket, there was also a residential guesthouse and offices.
According to him, the municipality never expressed interest in purchasing the building, admitting some admiration that there was never any desire from public entities to acquire it.
Questioned by the Lusa agency, an official source from the Coimbra City Council, in a written response, she highlighted that that school “is of great importance and uniqueness” and that the municipality is “very attentive and committed to contributing to the requalification of Rua da Sofia”, regardless of the ownership of its schools.
“Ideally, this would be an excellent space for acquisition by the municipality, due to its size, central positioning and formal quality”, said the same source, admitting, however, that “the state of the municipality’s finances also compromises decision-making of this nature”.
In this sense, the municipality considers that it will be very difficult to proceed with a purchase of that nature, remembering that, in addition to the acquisition, the property requires “a deep rehabilitation intervention”.
Despite this, the Coimbra City Council said that there is a desire to explore the possibility of purchasing, during this term, some of the privately owned schools on Rua da Sofia, pointing to the Manifesta biennial, in 2028, as another reason to reverse the trend of closed and abandoned properties in that area.
The Chamber also told Lusa that it will soon present an intervention strategy for Rua da Sofia, with the definition of “a global requalification policy for this urban complex, articulating intervention in public space and the promotion of policies to support the rehabilitation and recovery of properties” on that artery.