When you arrive in Portugal, you'll soon realize that there are two things you'll see a lot of - cobble stone sidewalks and azulejos, which are traditional painted tiles. They cover everything from palaces to bathrooms. The tradition of the azulejos is more than 500 years old in Portugal. The name comes from the Arabic words for painted stones, al zulayj, which the Moors introduced to Portugal and southern Spain during their occupation of parts of the Iberian peninsula between 711 and 1492. Seville was originally the center of the tile-making industry, but it eventually spread to Portugal in the early 1500s.
The earliest tiles followed the Islamic patterns that were inherited from the Moors even though they had been completely driven from Portugal by 1249. They were geometric patterns, which could be repeated to decorate an entire wall or room. We recently went to Portugal's National Azulejo Museum, which had many beautiful sets on display.
As the tradition developed, Portuguese artists transitioned to painting entire scenes with blue paint on white tiles. These can be seen all over Portugal depicting moments in history.
Inside Sintra's Pena National Palace
A building in Porto.
A scene from the National Azulejo Museum.
And the most famous azulejo scene:
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