The President of the Republic congratulated the Chancellor of Coimbra University and the Mayor of Coimbra upon the listing of Coimbra University in the roster of World Heritage by UNESCO, at the meeting of the World Heritage Committee now being held in Phnom Penh, in Cambodia.

Following is the text of the message sent by President Cavaco Silva:

“I was very pleased to learn of the listing of Coimbra University in the roster of World Heritage by UNESCO, at the meeting of the World Heritage Committee now being held in Phnom Penh, in Cambodia.

This international recognition of the admirable set of buildings which comprise Coimbra University - including its magnificent Library, which celebrates this year its 5th centenary - is simultaneously a tribute to Portuguese culture and to the City of Coimbra, defined by its signal connection to the ancestral academic institution.

The University that, from now on, attracts with even greater intensity the view of the World remains, after many centuries of history, an internationally referenced institution, marked by the strictness of its learning, the excellence of results and by the prestige of its academicians and researchers.

Its listing as World Heritage is a motive of pride for the City of Coimbra and for all the academic community. I thus join, together with all the Portuguese, the joyous feeling caused by this happening and congratulate all those who collaborated in this Candidacy.

Aníbal Cavaco Silva”