Coimbra, Portugal: Quinta das Lágrimas, a love story

In May 2010, we were passing through Coimbra en route to Buçaco, but decided to stop for lunch at the restaurant Arcadas da Capela, a one Michelin star, situated in a beautiful hotel on the left bank of the Mondego River, across from Coimbra. The hotel, Quinta das Lágrimas (Rua António Augusto Gonçalves s / n, tel. 239 80.23.80; www.quintadaslagrimas.pt), associated to the Relais & Châteaux, lies at the end of a long tree-lined promenade.

Quinta das Lágrimas

Entrance promenade, Quinta das Lágrimas

According to tradition, it was in the gardens of Quinta das Lágrimas that a spring known as the Fountain of Love originated from the tears of Inês de Castro, a woman who was the center of a beautiful and tragic love story that is told by Luís de Camões in his epic poem The Lusíadas.

Inês de Castro, a Galician noblewoman, came to Portugal in 1340 as lady-in-waiting of the Infanta Constance of Castile, who had married Prince Pedro, heir to the throne of Portugal. Pedro fell in love with Inês, neglecting his wife. Constance died five years latter and Alfonso IV, Pedro's father, tried to convince him to marry again. However, Pedro only had eyes for Inês, who was considered unsuitable to be the wife of the future king by the Portuguese court. After trying several times to keep Inês and Pedro apart, Afonso IV concluded that the only way to separate them would be by eliminating Inês and ordered her assassination. Her executioners went to the Monastery of Santa Clara, near Coimbra, where she was detained and killed. According to local tradition, it was because of Inês´ tears before her execution that the Fountain of Love sprung in the hunting grounds in the vicinity of the monastery. The hunting grounds of the Monastery of Santa Clara are none other than the lands where, years later, the Quinta das Lágrimas was built.

Love Spring

In 1537, Peter ascends the throne of Portugal and declares that he had secretly married Inês de Castro, although his words and those of his chaplain are the only evidence of this marriage. According to him, Inês would, therefore, have been the queen of Portugal had she not be executed. He then took the body of Inês from the grave and ordered members of his court to kiss the hand of the corpse as a sign of submission to his queen. Unfortunately for him, "it's too late, and Inês is dead" and sentence that to this day is used in Portuguese-speaking countries to describe a hopeless situation. He then buries the the body of Inês in the Monastery of Alcobaça, where Pedro was also buried, facing her, so that she will the first thing he will see when called for the Final Judgement. What a story!

Tomb of Inês de Castro

We left the car in the parking lot and headed toward the restaurant. The property is huge, and the gardens are really beautiful. You arrive at the restaurant hungry after so much walking, first through the gardens and then through the main residence, the Quinta das Lágrimas itself.

Once seated at the restaurant, Executive Chef Lawrence Albano offered us as appetisers sardine fillets in olive oil lying in a spoon and accompanied by a tapenade. As starters, Chantal asked for a risotto with grilled lamb chops and fava beans. François chose sautéed fusilli with vegetables, herbs and marinated salmon.

Fusili and risotto

As main dish, Chantal chose a stroganoff of grouper with sautéed vegetables and basmati rice, while François chose octopus tentacles with cilantro puree and oven-baked onions.

The friendly sommelier, Maria Rosa, suggested that we should try a white wine, the Marquês de Borba 2008, D.O. Alentejo, produced by the J. Portugal Ramos winery (see www.jportugalramos.com) in Estremoz, using native grapes Arinto, Rabo de Ovelha and Roupeiro. Inexpensive, but with 86 points from Robert Parker, the wine had a citrine color, a mineral character, but also good structure and well-balanced acidity.

For dessert, Chantal asked for an almond semifreddo with Amarguinha (an almond liqueur) sauce. Francois chose strawberries with strawberry coulis and bits of meringue.

In sum, the lunch was light, tasty and had a very reasonable price. The total cost of lunch for the couple, including wine, was € 54.50. Hard to believe!