Azulejos - Portuguese Tiles

There are soooo many 'favorite' things that I love about Portugal.

High on my list would be the tiles.

It's nearly impossible to walk down a street, visit a church or monastery, enter a public building - or go anywhere else, for that matter -  and not see any tiles! Here in Portugal they are known as azulejos – which means ‘small polished stone’ in Arabic. 

They were introduced when Portugal was under Moorish rule way back in the 13th century.

I find them mesmerizing, captivating and impossible not to photograph!

(Just scroll back through all the previous blogs!!!)

We decided to find out more about these wonderful tiles...

So, off we went to the Fabrica Sant'Anna. 

.Sant’Anna is a Portuguese ceramic factory, established in 1741, that produces all its products according to the oldest handcraft techniques from the clay preparation to the hand painted phase.

Inside, the walls are a mosaic of sample tiles and the floor space is filled with tile-topped tables, fountains, planters, umbrella stands. There are also beautiful ceramic bowls, jars, candlesticks, chandeliers and figurines. 

The factory is a family-run operation employing about 100 artisans. Quality control is guarded at every stage of manufacture. After the tiles are pressed into shapes and baked, they are checked for strength by a worker tapping two tiles together. The factory resounds with the clinking of the tiles being tested. Perfect tiles are then sent off for painting.

The formulas for glazes are a guarded company secret. Painters use a pattern stencil but the work is done freehand.

After touring the workshop, we browsed the shop and purchased our very own souvenir to remember this piece of Portugal's history.

This is what I bought. It's small, but their stuff is really expensive! 
I'm still looking for the 'perfect' tile.
SO
Now you know.
Keep a look-out for azulejos in the upcoming blogs.