An Unforgettable Father-Daughter Trip to Portugal (Part 22): The National Tile Museum, Lisbon
In the latest post from my three week father/daughter trip to Portugal back in December 2022-January 2023, we return to our final stop, Lisbon (where our journey actually began) and explore a truly one-of-a-kind attraction, the Museu Nacional do Azulejo (National Tile Museum). We also pay a visit to the birthplace of St. Anthony, a 17th century monastery dedicated the patron saint of Lisbon, and one of the largest aquariums in Europe.
So here’s PART III of a series of photographs from our return to Lisbon (Check out PART I HERE and PART II HERE plus our visit to the remarkable Calouste Gulbenkian Museum) as we explore the Alfama district, Lisbon’s oldest and most emblematic quarter. But first. we head about a 35 minute walk NE from our hotel to the post-industrial neighborhood of Beato, located by the Tagus River, between Parque das Nações and the historic center of downtown Lisbon. Why, you ask? To visit one of Lisbon’s most unique museums…
National Tile Museum
The Museu Nacional do Azulejo (National Tile Museum) is one of the most important of the national museums by the singularity of its collection of “azulejos” (a form of Portuguese and Spanish painted tin-glazed ceramic tilework). Housed in the former Madre de Deus Convent (founded in the early 16th century), the museum’s collection is one of the largest of ceramics in the world.
An entire room is devoted to the showpiece – a huge 75 foot long panel illustrating Lisbon before the 1755 earthquake. Dating from 1700 and attributed to one of the first masters of baroque tile art (Spanish painter Gabriel del Barco), it’s something of a panoramic photograph, showing 14 kilometers (9 miles) of the Lisbon skyline at the time.
The National Tile Museum was established in 1965 and became a National Museum in 1980. The museum collection features decorative ceramic tiles or azulejos (an artistic expression that differentiates Portuguese culture) from the second half of the 15th century to the present day. Besides tiles, it includes ceramics and porcelain from the 19th to the 20th century.
The spectacular Portuguese Renaissance choir of Madre de Deus Convent
The stunning church is one of Lisbon’s most magnificent sights. Its tile panels are among the main highlights of the collection, and the gilded woodwork is one of the finest you’ll find in Lisbon. The paintings above the tile panels are by Cristóvão Lopes and André Gonçalves, important painters from the 16th and 18th centuries.
Igreja de Santo António
Back in the Alfama district and close to the Lisbon Cathedral is the Igreja de Santo António, erected on the very spot where the saint was born. Anthony of Padua (António de Lisboa) was a Portuguese Catholic priest during the 12th – 13th centuries. Known for his powerful preaching and expert knowledge of scripture, he was one of the most quickly canonized saints in church history, being canonized (officially recognized as a saint) less than a year after his death.
The church was built in 1767 in the neoclassical style, in keeping with the design produced by the architect Mateus Vicente de Oliveira.
Inside, attention is drawn to the paintings by Pedro Alexandrino and the various sculptures, in particular the painted and gilded statue of St. Anthony on the high altar. Polychrome azulejos cover the walls of the sacristy, produced at the Real Fábrica do Rato (Portuguese ceramic factory founded in Lisbon in 1767) and dating from the early 19th century.
A small underground chapel marks the exact location (or pretty darn close) where Saint Anthony was born.
The church is a highly important monument in the city, both for visitors from outside the city and for the local inhabitants. Tradition dictates that young people who intend to get married, on their wedding day, visit the church, pray and leave flowers for Saint Anthony, who is the intercessor of the newlyweds.
The Igreja de Santo António (on left) resides in the shadow of the larger Lisbon Cathedral.
Mosteiro de São Vicente de Fora
The Church and Monastery of São Vicente de Fora, meaning “Monastery of St. Vincent Outside the Walls”, is a 17th-century church and monastery dedicated to Saint Vincent of Saragossa, the patron saint of Lisbon, whose relics were brought from the Algarve to Lisbon in the 12th century. The entrance hall is adorned with inlaid marbles, glazed tile panels and a painting on the ceiling by the Italian artist Vincenzo Baccarelli.
This monastery has the world’s most extensive collection of baroque tiles in its richly-decorated cloisters. It also includes a series of 38 panels illustrating the fables of La Fontaine, created by master tile artist Policarpo de Oliveira Bernardes between 1740 and 1750. Other panels depict scenes from the history of Portugal, including the siege of Lisbon in 1147.
The interior of the church has a barrel vaulted ceiling and the beautiful main altarpiece is a Baroque work of the 18th century by one of the best Portuguese sculptors, Joaquim Machado de Castro.
The stunning sacristy of the Monastery is exuberantly decorated with polychromed marble and paintings.
The Monastery of São Vicente de Fora was the first conventual space where Saint Anthony entered as a monk. It is believed that the site of this Chapel corresponds to the location of the Saint’s cell in the medieval monastery.
Inside the Royal Pantheon of the Bragança rest the tombs of almost all the elements of the Dynasty of Bragança (ruling dynasty of Portugal from 1640 to 1910 and of the empire of Brazil from 1822 to 1889). It includes the marble tomb of Catherine of Bragança, the Portuguese princess who became the queen of England when she married King Charles II in 1662 (the borough of Queens, in New York, was named in her honor).
A life-size statue of a weeping woman, whose hands cover her face, watches over the tomb of Carlos I, the next-to-last king of Portugal, who was assassinated shortly before the country became a republic.
Up on the roof is a terrace with superb views of the National Pantheon, Alfama, and the Tagus River.
Oceanário de Lisboa
Opened in 1998, the Oceanário de Lisboa has reimagined the centuries-old bond between Lisbon and the ocean. It is located in the Parque das Nações in eastern Lisbon, which was the exhibition grounds for the Expo ’98. The theme of the fair was “The Oceans, a Heritage for the Future”, chosen in part to commemorate 500 years of Portuguese discoveries.
I left my “big boy” camera at home for this visit but brought along my iPhone 13 Pro and used it to capture video of this remarkable aquarium. Check it out over at my film/video site southfloridafilmmaker.com
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
If you’ve been following this series of photographs from my three week father/daughter trip to Portugal from back in December 2022 – January 2023, you’ll remember that our journey actually began in Lisbon when we arrived in Portugal on December 14th.
We spent our first couple of days in the western Belém district of Lisbon before driving about 45 minutes NW to the city of Sintra. And that’s where the first two weeks of our journey really got started.
We then drove about 40 minutes north, stopping at the majestic Palácio de Mafra before continuing north to the Alcobaça Monastery, up to the city of Coimbra, a 90 minute drive up to the “Second City” of Porto, then north again to the city of Braga. We continued north, crossing the border into Galicia, Spain to spend Christmas with “miña familia galega”.
We then started our journey south, back into Portugal, stopping at the charming city of Guimarães, (The “Birthplace of Portugal”), the Dominican Monastery of Batalha, the medieval Convent of Christ (and Castle) in the city of Tomar before taking about a 90 minute drive back to where this whole journey started (and where it would end), Lisbon.
Only a few posts remain in our year-long look back at a truly unforgettable father-daughter trip. So what’s left, you ask? A look outside of the attractions – tales from the street, street photography. SUBSCRIBE HERE to not miss it…
Photographs taken with the Sony a7RIII using the Sony FE 24–105mm F/4, Tamron 70-180mm F/2.8, Samyang 14mm f/2.8, Samyang 35mm f/1.4 lenses and a few using the iPhone 13 Pro
