Lisbon’s Tiles

They were born with the Arabs and from the Arabs to the Portuguese they have kept their name (Azulejo).

But it was the Portuguese who re-invented them in terms of patterns, colours and geometries allowing for endless combinations with a thousand matrixes and optical illusion effects

In the tours we now propose, you will find over 200 different facade tiles’ typologies, ranging from late 18th Century to mid-20th Century.

Campo de Ourique > Between tradition and modernity

A residential and cosmopolitan neighbourhood with a very special atmosphere. Despite its ancient initial core, it went under a great development in the early 20th Century. Its tiles reflect that change over time.

Lisbon Tiles: Estrela, Lapa and Madragoa

Bourgeois mansions and chalets, alleys and modest houses of seafarers and fishmongers. The people and the aristocracy represented in tiles.

Alcântara, Ajuda and Belém > Lisbon of the Discoveries, the Empire and Overseas.

Two different eras featuring different protagonists. A more remote past and a more recent past. The stories of the places and protagonists also told by the facades’ tiles.

Modern tendencies: the tiles and the “vanguards”

The visual artists, architects and interior decorators were not indifferent to the tile’s tradition. Since the mid 20th Century until nowadays the examples of this modern and contemporary approach have been multiplied.