2-376-724 - Samuel Magal/Sites & Photos/Heritage Images

The Renaissance Porta Especiosa on the north facade of the 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. From the outside, Coimbra's old cathedral looks like a small fortress, with its high, crenellated walls. There is a tower-like structure in the middle of the western facade with a portal and a similar-looking upper window. Both portal and window are heavily decorated with Romanesque motifs of Arabic and Pre-Romanesque influences.