The Tiles on the Pinhão Train Station

When we visited the Lamego Tourist Office, Antonio (the information officer), told us that it would be a good idea to do a boat trip on the Douro River from the mall town of Pinhão. But he told us that when we were in that town, we just had to visit the train station too. Well, all of Antonio’s recommendations so far have been spot on, so after lunch, we went for a walk and visited the train station.

This little train station is charming. And it has something that no other train that we have seen, has. It is covered with hand-painted blue and white azulejos, pictorial tiles, that have been there since 1937. They tell stories of the history of the town and the vineyards, the wineries, and life in the Douro River alley. The four outside walls of the station are decorated with 24 scenes made out of these tiles, so it was fun to walk all around the outside of the building to see them. They chronicle the history of the town and the vineyards, the wineries, and life along the Douro River.

By the way, azulejo is a form of Portuguese painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tile work. This type of artwork has been produced continuously for five centuries. We have read that there is a national azulejo gallery in Lisbon, which we may visit when we get there. Although, we have seen azulejos everywhere in Portugal. They are found on the interior and exterior of churches, palaces, ordinary homes, department stores, and now we have seen them on a railway station.

Thanks Antonio!Read more