Tiles, Tiles and more Tiles!

We were up and about fairly early, as we had a big day planned - not as many steps as yesterday, but nonetheless an activity packed day. We headed off at 9:30 am to the Museu Nacional do Azulejo, the National Tile Museum. The best way to get to this museum is with the bus, so we caught the bus using our Lisbon Card, and we were dropped off out the front and just had to cross the road. We were a bit early, as the museum doesn’t open till 10am, but then we were off. The collection is held in the former Convent of Madre de Deus. This convent was founded by Queen Leonor de Lancaster, the wife of King João II.

There is a very well preserved and very ornate 16th century cloister, vestry, upper choir and chapel that you can also view as part of the museum tour. Of more interest to me were the wonderful tiles - the collection covered the history of Portuguese tiles (or Azulejos), starting around the 15th century. There were some beautiful tiles on display and, as we moved through the rooms, we saw how the designs and manufacture of the tiles changed over time. There were even a number of modern tiles on display at the end of the collection. The photos don’t do the colours justice, but they have inspired me to get back into creating some mosaics once we return from our trip.Leia mais