A Manueline Café in the heart of the city of Coimbra
The reference to Café Santa Cruz dates back to 1921 in newspapers of the time – ‘O Despertar,’ ‘A Gazeta de Coimbra,’ and ‘Correio de Coimbra’ – as ‘O Café Manuelino’, an association with the architectural style of the building.
It was during the reign of King Manuel I (1495-1521) that the expansionist policy, initiated by King John II (1481-1495), developed. The opening of the oceanic route, undertaken by Bartolomeu Dias and continued by Vasco da Gama, at the end of the 15th century, allowed for the resumption of Portuguese expansion. The various conquests of important cities in India enabled increased trade between the economic spaces of the West and the East.
