Monday, March 5, 2012

lisbon in tiles



It got to the point during my wandering, where I was snapping photos of tiles nearly every ten steps. Lisbon is a city of unexpected colour combinations which somehow work harmoniously together— salmon and cerulean, saffron and bordeaux. Many of the city's buildings are tiled in mesmerizing patterns, which naturally pulled me to extract my camera from my bag, with oooohs and aahhhhhs.



Turkey has a rich ceramic and tile tradition, with gorgeous cobalts and floral motifs, that I can't help but wonder why there aren't more buildings covered in tiles. The fairly new Hacıosman metro station has massive panels of stunning Iznik tiles which feature the çintemani motif, a pattern of three circles, representing royalty and power. I imagine the cost of tiling entire metro stations would be astronomical, but it's just so lovely— and what a way to keep a tradition current.

13 comments:

Martha said...

wonderful post!!!
i saw in instabul also lovely tiles!
they sold it in the road near by galata tower and there is also a store ''plie'' that it is decorated with tiles there!!

Unknown said...

Great photos from Lisbon in all these posts.

Joy said...

Lovely photos as usual! The Topkapi Palace features such a nice array of tiles as well - the green tiled room is my favorite.

Beth said...

So beautiful. You'd probably be shocked how hard it is to buy lovely, patterned tiles here in Montreal.

szaza said...

Thank you, ladies!

Rob Dunlavey said...

Samantha,
I've never been to Lisbon or Portugal but I've heard from people who should know, that one must read Fernando de Pessoa if one is to acknowledge the heart and soul of this unique country.

Thanks for your wonderful blog and photos

szaza said...

Thank you, Rob!
Portugal and Lisbon are wonderful, and I do plan on reading Mr.Pessoa— he has been highly recommended to me. The next time I go, I hope to have more time to linger in a bookshop or two.

Saurium said...

If you didn't go, while in Lisbon, and you have another chance you might want to visit the National Tile Museum.
Turkey and Portugal ceramics might have more in common than previously thought. Came across this stamp series published by the 2 countries in 2009 about the subject. Nice!

Sam D. said...

Do you mind if I use one of these images for a mix I am making for friends visiting Lisbon with me for my birthday?

szaza said...

Thank you for contacting me, Sam. Is it for personal or commercial use?

Sam D. said...

Personal use.

szaza said...

No problem, glad you like the image— you may use it.
Thanks again for asking me first :)

Sam D. said...

Thank you again.