Fado, food and a lot of history

Portugal

Explore the food, traditions, symbols, places and everyday details that make Portugal what it is. Learn the stories behind them, pick up a few fun facts and discover the prints they inspire.

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Portugal Prints and Posters

Real subjects, traditions and everyday details, reworked as distinctive prints with something behind them.

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Explore Portugal

Behind the work

The stories behind the art

The subjects in our prints come from real places, traditions and everyday details. Here are some of the stories behind the work.

Polychrome figurative azulejos covering the full façade of the former Viúva Lamego ceramic factory at Largo do Intendente in Lisbon Mister No, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fabrica_Viuva_Lamego_-_panoramio.jpg

MORE THAN DECORATION

How tiles became part of Portugal

Portugal did not invent glazed tile, but it did something pretty extraordinary with it. Across more than five centuries, azulejos moved from imported decoration into churches, palaces, stations, façades and public spaces. The scale, architecture and sheer visibility of the work helped turn tile into one of the things people now recognise almost instantly as Portuguese.

Start with azulejos
A square ceramic tile wall panel featuring a detailed hand-painted Portuguese style design with a central coat of arms, birds, foliage, and a blue water scene, decorated with an ornate blue and yellow border. Manuelvbotelho, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frontal_de_altar_azulejos_sec_XVII_IMG_1221.JPG

THE COLOUR STORY

Blue and white wasn’t always the look

Portuguese tiles were colourful long before cobalt blue became the colour everyone remembers. Chinese porcelain made blue-and-white ceramics incredibly desirable across Europe, Dutch tilemakers developed the look further, and Portuguese painters eventually turned the palette into enormous architectural scenes of their own. That international journey is part of why the colour combination is so much more interesting than it first appears.

Featured print Portuguese Lemon Azulejo Tile Print
See the print Why blue and white?
Two square ceramic tiles featuring an intricate geometric Islamic star pattern with blue, green, brown, and white glazed sections. Jl FilpoC, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

LOOK CLOSER

Not every pattern is a secret code

Stars, flowers, vines and geometric repeats can look as though every shape must have one hidden meaning. It is more complicated than that. Some Portuguese tile motifs really do carry religious, heraldic or cultural meaning, while plenty of patterns are better understood through their structure, artistic influences and the buildings they were made for. That distinction is exactly what makes looking closer worthwhile.

Featured print Portuguese Olive Azulejo Tile Print
See the print Read the pattern properly

Why shop with CITTRA

The art should be the interesting part. Ordering it should be simple.

A few practical things worth knowing before you choose your print.

Printed to order

Your print is produced after you order, rather than sitting in warehouse stock.

Printed closer to you

Our production network spans 32 countries, helping shorten shipping routes where possible.

14-day returns

If something isn't right, contact us within 14 days of delivery.

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PORTUGAL AT HOME

A little bit of Portugal goes a long way.

Fado, pastéis de nata, café and the sort of details that make Portugal instantly recognisable. These prints are a more playful take on the place — made to bring some of that character onto the wall without turning the room into a souvenir shop.

Two Portuguese wall art prints featuring pastéis de nata, fado and coffee framed in a contemporary sage and terracotta dining room.

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Keep exploring

More from Portugal

More stories, places and cultural details for anyone who wants to look a little further.

The full collection

Find your Portugal print

Explore the full collection and find the piece that feels right for your wall.

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Printed to order · 14-day returns

Two Portuguese wall art prints featuring pastéis de nata, fado and coffee framed in a contemporary sage and terracotta dining room. View the collection