During my visit to Chile at the amazing property, Vina Vik, my stunning suite had an entire wall of Portuguese tile depicting the VIK family in their vineyards, I remembered this as I walked the streets of Lisbon. I’m one of those travelers wandering streets with dangling camera and eyes upturned to the rooftops…which I think is infinitely better than those persistently looking down, engrossed in their phone screens. I want to absorb architecture, skylines, and local buildings. At Vina Vik the Vik’s worked with an artisanal company from Portugal to design original hand-painted tile murals to decorate the walls in traditional blue and white.

Azulejo is a particular type of ceramic tile that is both functional and beautiful. This tile is used to ornament buildings and also protect them from the region’s harsh humidity. The painted tile also helps regulate temperature inside a home. The tiles are often decorated with graphic scenes from the history of Portugal’s and highlight significant cultural features.

Portugal’s history has always been associated with design. The Portuguese designed maps to many regions of the world; they designed the special ships “caravelas” and some key nautical navigation equipment used during the Portuguese Discoveries. Later, throughout its Discoveries period, Portuguese continued to adapt and evolve the design of many products brought from the new-found regions (e.g filigree, China Porcelain).

Tiles or azulejos are everywhere in Portugal. They decorate everything from walls of churches and monasteries, to palaces, ordinary houses, park seats, fountains, shops, and railway stations. They often portray scenes from the history of the country, show its most ravishing sights, or simply serve as street signs, nameplates, or house numbers. They were initially brought to Portugal around 1498, when King Manuel I visited Spain and fell in love with the geometric Moorish tiles he found there. King Manuel I was dazzled by the Alhambra in Granada and decided to have his palace in Sintra decorated with the same rich ceramic tiles. The first ones were imported from Seville, and in accordance to Islamic law, they portrayed no human figures, only geometric patterns. At the height of the Portuguese Discoveries, themes included globes symbols of maritime expansion, and florals. The 16th century Renaissance also influenced the style of the tiles: less geometric, more human and religious figures and allegorical themes. Many styles of azulejos developed over the next few centuries and tiles were used for both interior and exterior design, including large panels and entire walls. The prevalence of azulejos spread throughout the Portuguese colonies, where many of the original decorative tiles still exist today. The colors used eventually focused heavily on blue (influenced from the blues in Chinese porcelain). Yellow is still a popular secondary color to the blue; green is the third most popular color. Brown on azulejos is rarer but not unheard of.

Although they are not a Portuguese invention (the use of glazed tiles began in Egypt), they have been used more imaginatively and consistently in Portugal than in any other nation. They became an art form, and by the 18th century no other European country was producing as many tiles for such a variety of purposes and in so many different designs. Today, they still remain a very important part of the country’s charming architecture. The term azulejo comes from the Arabic word az-zulayj, meaning “polished stone.” The Moors brought this term to the Iberian Peninsula, but despite their long presence, their influence in early Portuguese azulejos was actually introduced from Spain in the 15th century, well after the Christian re-conquest. No tile work from the time of the Moorish occupation survives in Portugal. Gradually the Portuguese painters weaned themselves off ornamental decoration and employed human or animal figures in their designs. The dominant colors were blue, yellow, green and white, but in the 17th century, large, carpet-like tiles used just white and blue, the fashionable colors at the time of the Great Discoveries, influenced by the Ming Dynasty porcelain from China. They now portrayed Christian legends, historical events, and were not only decorative, but also protected against damp, heat and noise. . 

In Lisbon’s Tile Museum visitors can trace the development of tiles in Portugal from their beginnings to the present. Other outstanding displays are found in Lisbon’s São Vicente de Fora Church and Fronteira Palace, in Porto’s São Bento Station, Buçaco’s palace, Lamego’s Nossa Senhora dos Remedios Church.

Tiles – Azulejos are like a keystone in Portuguese architecture. Many say that while Italian artists excelled at “fresco painting”, Portuguese did it with azulejos. You can see them in churches, monasteries and palaces, but also in ordinary houses, fountains, shops, and train stations. Invented by others, tiles are yet another great example of Portuguese discovery and adaptation. While the first known tiles in Portugal followed Islamic law (they portrayed only geometrical forms, as no human figures were allowed), gradually the Portuguese painters introduced human and animal forms and started using large tile panels to illustrate important scenes from local or national history. Originally there was a strong emphasis on blue and white colors (influence of the Ming Dynasty), and you can see multiple examples throughout Portugal like Sao Bento’s Station (Porto), São Vicente de Fora Monastery (Lisboa), Buçaco’s Palace, and others. Today the use of colors and forms in Portuguese tiles is much more diverse and you can see contemporary artists and architects using them in their creations. Traveling through the metro stations in Lisbon is a great way to see examples of these.

The unique National Tile Museum in displays an impressive collection of tiles from the 14^th Century to present day: Museu Nacional do Azulejo, The National Tile Museum is worth a visit. The Museum is in an ancient church, a building whose origins date back to the 14th and 15th centuries, when it was a convent. The striking, gold-lined church with azulejo panels is incredibly well-preserved and is part of the guided and self-guided tours. You walk among the extensive art collection. Although there are azulejo tiles on display, the building itself has plenty of blue and white tiles throughout. Stairwells and courtyards are coated in old, sometimes damaged, tiles.

This tile museum is home to a massive panoramic 75.5-foot-long mural of ancient Lisbon, dating back to the first half of the 18th century, before Lisbon was destroyed by the great earthquake of 1755. I was captivated by it.

The museum takes you in a chronological order of the evolution of this art-form, you pick up a broad understanding of the subject. After you depart, look around the city again as you may start to associate azulejos at other locations with a specific time period, based on what you learned at the museum.

Check the hours, there is a small café for lunch, taxi’s drive by, it was an easy location to find on my own and taxi back to my hotel.

Two exceptional Google sites for Tile Culture.

https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/national-azulejo-museum

https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/national-palace-of-sintra