Azulejos or azulejos (from the Portuguese azulejo) are the hallmark of Portugal, white-cobalt glazed tiles that create a special heavenly palette of Portuguese cities.
The name comes from the Arabic al-zuleisha - polished pebble. Decorative finishing ceramics came to Portugal from Spain, more precisely from Seville, in the 15th century, where the Arabs brought the art of its production. In the beginning, the tiles were multi-colored, with relief. In the 16th century, the Italians borrowed the majolica technique, which made it possible to apply a design to a flat surface covered with zinc glaze. And by the 17th century, cobalt blue on a white background had practically replaced other colors. According to one version, the reason for this was the popularity of Dutch tiles, which were actively imported to Portugal at that time. The second version connects the transition to blue and white with the impressions of 17th century Portuguese sailors on Chinese porcelain.
By the mid-19th century, thanks to mass industrial production, Azulejo ceramics became truly a national treasure. Not only palaces and churches are beginning to be decorated with it. White and blue tiles frame windows and doors, form decorative panels on the facades, and are used to make signs and plates with house numbers and street names. The themes for the panels are everyday scenes and turning points in the history of Portugal. One of the most valuable ceramic panels depicts a panorama of Lisbon before the devastating earthquake of 1755. The impetus for the revival of Azulejo art in our time was the construction of the metro. Many Lisbon metro stations are decorated with tiles made by modern Portuguese craftsmen.
Azulejos are not only a unique, unique decor of Portuguese cities, but also excellent protection of facades from bad weather and from air saturated with sea salt.
The article was based on the following materials:
“Ceramic granite in architecture” comp. Semyonova T.S., Ogadzhanov K.G.