Portugal is, among other things, famous for its tiles, known as azulejos. They adorn the inside and outside of many buildings in Portugal. Portuguese and Flemish artists began to produce tiles in Lisbon in the Sixteenth Century. Blue and yellow were the favourite colour combination and the tiles depicted mostly floral patterns or religious scenes. But over the years the tiles were modernised and were incorporated into commercial buildings and even used for advertising. Blue and white became the favourite colours.

Several years ago I visited the lovely town of Santarém in Portugal. Wandering through the streets I suddenly found a wonderful range of tiles on the outside the of the Fire Station in the centre of the town. There were several of them, each one depicting an important occasion in the history of the fire-fighters.

One of the firemen saw me making the picture and invited me inside. There they still had the original fire-engine, a Chevrolet of 1932 vintage. It was in a deplorable state, but he said they were going to restore it, together with a group of volunteers. Now, several years later, the car has been finished although it has been rebuilt to a later specification. But it does look beautiful.



photo Rutger Booy

November 28, 2002



This picture was supplied by Pedro Carvalho of the “Bombeiros Municipais de Santarém”