La Biblioteca Joanina, símbolo de la Universidad de Coimbra

The University of Coimbra houses a true gem, the Joanina Library, a masterpiece of European Baroque architecture. It was built between 1717 and 1728 and houses 60,000 books, some of which date back to the 12th century. This library has the advantage that its construction keeps the books in very good condition. The creators of the film Beauty and the Beast chose this library to make an exact reproduction of the Beast's library. Underneath the university is a prison, as the university had its own legislative system, and if a student missed class or tore a book, they were thrown into one of the cells.