Mapping our tiles is an on-going project to georeference Portuguese houses’ tiles, connecting different tile patterns to the physical addresses where they (currently) exist. This project aims to characterize pattern distributions across Portugal, reemphasizing its beauty, tradition and cultural relevance, so that all can appreciate and contribute to its protection and preservation for future generations.

Click on the tiles to see their georeferencing. This will take you to the PT page with all mapped tile patterns.


Which are the objectives of MAPPING OUR TILES?

The objectives of MAPPING OUR TILES project are to georeference Portuguese houses’s tiles in order to build an inventory of beautiful patterns used in those tiles, and investigate its frequency and spatial distribution. The ultimate aim is to capture, document and share this information on an important part of our heritage, for enjoyment in the present and preservation for the future.

Our targets for 2016 are to georeference at least 5 new patterns per month. In addition we have started a collaboration with Project Az Infinitum - Az- Rede de Investigação em Azulejo / Artis - Instituto de História da Arte, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Lisboa and Museu Nacional do Azueljo (Tile National Museum) - uniting efforts and increasing our MAPPING OUR TILES community work's impact. We will share tile patterns, façades' photos and locations gathered by MAPPING OUR TILES project with Az Infinitum project. 

Please send us:

1. Photograph or reference of a tile pattern,
2. Address (street number, city or geographic coordinates), and additionally,
3. Tiled building facade photograph.

Who are we?

We are Bonjardim Porto, a small team of “tripeiros” (Porto’s people), passionate about our heritage. We wanted to value and spread the beauty of Porto/Portuguese houses’ tiles and used its patterns in our soaps packaging, postcards and other products. We felt we needed to capture our tiles beauty, diversity and geographical distribution, in order to help our cities with an inventory of this richness for better sharing and preservation.


How did it all start?

It all started with a passion for beautiful patterns presented as house tiles, mainly 19th century town houses. And a collective pleasure in sharing more patterns and identifying its locations. This collective activity involves our children, who are admirable observers, recognizing different patterns, identifying locations and enthusiastically expressing their preferences! Our network grew to our friends and family and it felt right to georeference our houses’ tiles for everyone’s knowledge and appreciation of this little bit of history.

Which regions are covered by the project?

MAPPING OUR TILES is a Portugal based project and it aims to cover house tiles in Portugal. We are staring with Porto city and aim to spread to other main cities (Lisboa, Braga, Aveiro, Coimbra,…) and then beyond..

Which tile types are covered by the project?

This project covers private houses’ façade/exterior tiles.

Why not cover other types of tiles?

Other tiles, like painted tile panels seen in churches, are well documented in historic literature and often presented in tourist guides. Therefore they are outside the scope of MAPPING OUR TILES project.

Which are the criteria utilized for the initial pattern selection?

There are hundreds of different Portuguese houses’ tiles and we cannot cover them all at once. Our criterion for the initial selection was occurrence and (subjective) beauty. We will certainly take into account our collaborators input to expand from our initial selection.

How can I contribute?

MAPPING OUR TILES would love everyone’s contribution to this project. You can contribute by sending us new patterns (houses tiles) and/or locations for existing patterns. You can do that by email: or Instagram using the hashtag: #mappingourtiles. Please remember to send the location (street, number, city or geographic coordinated).

Please send us:

1. Photograph or reference (e.g. BJ0nn) of a tile pattern,
3. Tiled building facade photograph.

Images shared with MAPPING OUR TILES should be authored by those submitting them. They can be used by MAPPING OUR TILES project and by Az Infinitum project, with credit given to the authors.

How long does it take for a new pattern I submit to be added to the website?

The time required for a new tile pattern to be added to the website is extremely variable. The selection criteria are basically the frequency of each pattern. therefore some patterns may be in a waiting list for a few months. It is also highlighted that some tile patterns are outside Mapping Our Tiles scope and may never be inserted on the website. This information is however always provided to those who submit new patterns. The project's objectives for 2016 are to have at least 100 georeferenced tile patterns, adding an average of 5 new patterns per month.


A-I: Alexandra Macedo, Alfredo Tomás, Andreia Correia, António Correia, Beatriz Fernández, Camila Garcia, Carlos Queirós, Catarina Ginja, Catarina Santos, Clara Amorim, Diogo Gonçalves, Dolores Fernandez, Duarte Lázaro (Rede AZ - foto padrão BJ123), Fábio Carvalho, Fátima Figueiredo, Filipa Antunes, Filipa Oliveira, Helena Azevedo, Helena Espadinha, Inês Aguiar (Rede AZ - foto padrões BJ055C, BJ078B, BJ093, BJ150, BJ151, BJ152, BJ157), Inês Baptista, Inês Neves, Isabel Braga da Cruz

J-Z: Joana Almeida, Joana Pulido, João Mamodeiro, José Bernard, José Ranita, José Rui Ferreira, Libório Manuel Silva (Rede AZ - foto padrões BJ153, BJ154, BJ155, BJ156), Luciana Gomes, Luísa Pinto dos Reis, Luís Royal, Madalena Ferreira, Nisa Félix, Nuno Bonifácio, Nuno Couto, Ondina Afonso, Paulo Topa, Pedro Caiado, Pedro Gomez, Pedro Meirinhos, Rafaela Costa, Ricardo Bessa, Ricardo Lacerda, Sónia Martins, Teresa Amorim, Teresa Oliveira, Teresa Pêgo, Tiago Alves Miranda, TILED - Heritage you can wear

Azulejos Lisboa Pisal

Projecto Az Infinitum













































Last update:

21 August 2019