Portugal - Portugal's Splendour - Azulejos, Quintas And Palaces (82/151)

Portugal - Portugal's Splendour - Azulejos, Quintas And Palaces (82/151)

They are everywhere to be found in Portugal: azulejos, decorative tiles in all variations and colours. They adorn not only representative buildings such as churches, cloisters and palaces, but also the facades of normal houses, stations, park benches, signposts, market halls, sports halls, pubs and shops. This is unique throughout the world. The film shows the diversity of the azulejo art from ist inception up to modern times and presents very different specimens: beautiful palaces, virtually unknown to us, but also the railway station of Porto, the underground stations of Lisbon, craftsmanship in an old-established tile manufactory, some private houses and the cake shop in Belem where azulejos and pasteis, little cakes, vie for the attention of the guests. Apart from Lisbon, the journey also takes us to Sintra, Porto and to the Algarve. The most spectacular azulejo works of art in the capital are the Palacio dos Marqueses de Fronteira, the unique baroque garden Quinta dos Azulejos, now falling into ruin as a school yard, and the Palacio Belmonte in Alfama, the old city centre of Lisbon, where Wim Wenders shot part of "Lisbon Story" and which has now become an exclusive hotel.