Scott and Cathy dropped us off at the bus station in Lagos for a pleasant three hour trip to Lisboa, our final destination in Portugal. We checked into Feeling Chiado, and old hotel built in the 1700s complete with wide pine floorboards, wrought iron balconies and plenty of stairs to reach our room on the fourth floor. It has a glorious view of Convento do Carmo, right across the Largo do Carmo from our hotel and of Castelo de São Jorge, built by the Moors in the 1100s and later converted to the Portuguese royal palace, at least for a time. We had enough time for a nice salad at a restaurant in the square and to get ourselves momentarily lost among the steep, winding streets of old Lisboa looking for tile shops and local color. (Click to enlarge.)
Our initial exploration took us to the magnificent Igleja do São Roque, a 16th century Jesuit church dedicated to the saint who protected Portuguese sailors. The main chapel is stunning in and of itself, but the Capela de São João Baptista is especially compelling. It it made of precious stones (lapis lazuli), matched marble tiles, lots of gold, and extraordinarily detailed mosaics that can easily be mistaken for paintings on the walls and floor. It was disassembled from the Vatican and reassembled here. Photos don’t really do it justice. (Click to enlarge.)
And of course, there are tiles. Lots and lots of tiles. More on that later. First full day of exploration begins tomorrow. (Click to enlarge.)
Fantastic. I LOVE the tiles! Your photos are quite impressive, too.
I could spend an entire day walking down one street and not finish photographing all of the tiles there. There’s an antique tile shop just down the hill from us…