2-371-002 - Samuel Magal/Sites & Photos/Heritage Images

Rib vaulting in the cloister, Old Cathedral of Coimbra, Portugal, 2009. Coimbra Cathedral is the only one of the Portuguese Romanesque cathedrals from the Reconquista times to have survived relatively intact up to the present. Construction began in the mid 12th century after Afonso Henriques (Afonso I) declared himself King of Portugal with Coimbra as his capital. The cloister, which was built in the 13th century during the reign of Afonso II, represents the transition form Romanesque to Gothic architecture.