The art and history of Azulejos in Portugal

Azulejos (glazed ceramic tiles) are an essential part of Portuguese architecture.
As you wander around Lisbon, Sintra, Porto or any other small village, you will always find older buildings covered in beautiful tiles. 
I became obsessed with tiles (..and doors and windows) during my last two trips to Portugal and noticed that there are so many patterns, colours and designs in azulejos that it's difficult to find another building with the same tiles. Just on my last trip I took close-up photos of nearly 100 tiles in Porto and Lisbon and I don't have a single repetition.

Isn't it funny that when I lived there and didn't blog I noticed them but didn't really pay much attention? Now I do!!

Tile panel at Mercado da Ribeira, (Cais do Sodre), Lisbon

Derived from the Arabic word that means "polished stone", the idea was to imitate Roman mosaics, and most azulejos show the Arab influence in their design. 
Introduced by King Manuel I to Portugal after a visit to Seville in 1503, they were applied on floors, walls and even ceilings. Their colours were then mainly blue and white with sometimes a bit of yellow and green. These were used to tell stories about history, religion and culture.

The 17th and 18th century saw the mass production of azulejos due to internal demand as well as exports to the Portuguese colony of Brazil, when churches, palaces and even houses were covered inside and out with tiles.
After the earthquake of 1755 and the reconstruction of Lisbon, the tiles became more utilitarian and many houses had small devotional panels on their building's facades as protection against future disasters.

Sao Bento Station in Porto has some magnificent panels covering its lobby, consisting of over 20 thousand tiles that convey historical moments.

Traditional blue and white (and some yellow) cover the Sao Bento Station in Porto, Church facades, houses and Pinhao Station (panel w/yellow tiles)

Surrounding doors, fountains, names of town, buildings, and the Pena Palace in Sintra

Town names, street names or even restaurant names in azulejos

Since the 20th century many artists started using the art of the azulejo to design panels for some of Lisbon underground stations, murals, etc., thus bringing about a revival of the art which had gone into decline.

A tiled wall/ mural in Porto

Azulejo mural at Orient underground station, Lisbon

Since August 2017 across the country, (and since 2013 in Lisbon) it's illegal to demolish tile covered facades and interiors to protect the cultural heritage, and an effort is being made to recover and repair old tiles.

Apparently there is a lot of theft of old tiles, and it's estimated that from 1980 to 2000, 25% of artistic tiles have been removed from buildings, with the highest number occurring in Lisbon, tiles which are sometimes sold to tourists on the black market.

There is also a tile protection group - Banco do Azulejo (bank of tiles) - that has collected tiles from buildings that were demolished or are undergoing restoration, so those tiles can be saved and re-used.

If you visit Lisbon, you can always visit the Museu Nacional do Azulejo housed in a 16th century former Monastery, which houses the largest collection of Portuguese tiles in the world. I haven't visited, but it's on the wish list!

And here is a sample of the many fabulous tiles I photographed - blue and white, blue and yellow and various other colours.

In Portugal production of azulejos began in the 18th century, and there are still factories in existence in Lisbon, such as  Viúva Lamego and Sant'Anna and other smaller artisans where you can even order your own design and they'll make it for you.

The Sant'Anna factory in central Lisbon, a panel on side of the shop and blue and white pieces at the window

Hope you enjoyed learning about the art and history of the Azulejo in Portugal.