more of lisbon, Sept 2012

what remained of one of the basilicas after the 1755 earthquake and since it occurred on a holy day, Nov 1st, the church unfortunately was full. it is now a museum displaying the artifacts found there.

view of downtown Lisbon

had a great dinner at bistro 100 maneiras after going to hear a Fado performance

fun mosaics on outside of restaurant, there were about 4 different ones

our local streetcar, just steps from the hotel

our morning coffee spot

the Gulbenkian museum is not to be missed, has a lovely collection of many different types of art. here are some turkish ceramics

the turkish  collection was very large

turkish iznik ceramic plate

the collection was arranged  in chronological order and there were a few very pretty Italian paintings

Italian renaissance portrait of a girl by Ghirlandaio, 15th century

the rene lalique collection was an entire room, so impressive and fun

a Lalique peacock brooch

next stop was the museu do azulejos (tile museum)

religious tiles often used as frontpieces on altars

decorative pieces

scenic tiles

The highlight of the museum is a blue and white composition of 1300 tiles of Lisbon's cityscape made in 1738, prior to the Great Earthquake, and reputedly the country's longest tile piece.  provides a great history of what was once there. the signs were very good showing what still remains of these places.  

the lisbon tile was very, very long, 75ft in length and a special room was dedicated to it. this is most of it.

the tile museum itself was in the madre de deus convent, shown here is the cloister completely tiled on the walls. was very striking

manueline doorway of church entrance next to convent

subtle differences

in the museum there are pieces showing how the tiles are made and a history of when tiling began in Portugal

 a pretty tiled nativity triptych

tiled walls

inner courtyard of museum/convent

tiled bathroom signs

another fun-filled, informative day in lisbon with perfect weather