Portugal has leavened function with design and color.  Just as mosaics vivify Lisbon's paved surfaces, ceramic tiles are both highly functional and decorative. There are tiled surfaces everywhere in Lisbon.  Their designs seem unique; their colors are invariably attractive in color and suitable to their context. They are always of high quality.

Tiles fully clad these abutting buildings.

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Bright tiles also enliven Lisbon's highway tunnels and embankment cuts; if the embankments are open to the sky, the tiles reflect natural light and shadows of trees and buildings.

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Slow shutter speeds abstract the hues.

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As you would expect, Portugal celebrates its ceramic heritage with a museum dedicated to tiles, some 500 years old, others thoroughly modern. The National Museum of the Azulejo is in a former convent.  Even apart from the tiles, the cloister and church are striking.   
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