Azulejos: Portugal's Painted Tiles and Where to See Them

Azulejos, the painted ceramic tiles that cover Portuguese churches, stations, palaces and ordinary houses, are one of the country’s great art forms. Once you start noticing them, you’ll see them everywhere. Here’s a short guide to azulejos and the best places to see them.

Quick answer: the best places to see azulejos are São Bento station and the Capela das Almas in Porto, the Palácio Fronteira and countless facades in Lisbon, the Sintra National Palace, and the churches of the Algarve like São Lourenço in Almancil. Lisbon’s National Tile Museum is closed for renovation in 2026.

A short history

• Moorish roots: the word comes from the Arabic al-zulayj, “polished stone”. Portugal began importing patterned tiles from Spain in the 15th and 16th centuries.
• Blue and white: inspired by Chinese porcelain and Dutch tiles, blue-and-white picture panels became fashionable in the 17th and 18th centuries, telling stories of saints, battles and daily life.
• After the 1755 earthquake, mass-produced patterned tiles helped rebuild Lisbon quickly.
• 19th and 20th centuries: tiled facades spread across Lisbon, Porto and Aveiro, and Art Nouveau and Art Deco tiles appeared.
• Today: contemporary artists still use tiles, including in metro stations.

Where to see them

Porto

• São Bento station: about 20,000 tiles depicting Portuguese history. Free.
• Capela das Almas: a chapel covered inside and out.
• Igreja do Carmo: a huge tiled panel on its side wall.
• The cathedral cloister: 18th-century blue-and-white panels.

See Porto’s best photo spots.

Lisbon

• Facades everywhere, especially in Alfama, Mouraria, Príncipe Real and around Largo do Intendente.
• Miradouro de Santa Luzia: tiled panels of old Lisbon.
• Palácio Fronteira: a 17th-century palace with some of the finest tile gardens in Portugal.
• Metro stations: contemporary tile art in many stations.
• The National Tile Museum (Museu Nacional do Azulejo) is closed for renovation in 2026, so check before you go.

Elsewhere

• Sintra National Palace: early tiles in its Arab Room and elsewhere.
• São Lourenço, Almancil (Algarve): a church entirely lined with tiles.
• Aveiro: Art Nouveau tiled houses and a tiled old railway station.
• Pinhão station (Douro): tiles showing the wine harvest.

Buying tiles

• Antique tiles: buy only from reputable dealers. Tile theft from old buildings is a real problem, and taking tiles from buildings is illegal.
• New hand-painted tiles make great souvenirs and are sold in workshops and shops across Lisbon and Porto.
• Flea markets: the Feira da Ladra in Lisbon has old tiles, but be careful about where they came from.

More: things to do in Lisbon and things to do in Porto.

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