I stumbled into this shop on one of my walks around the neighbourhood. I was with my girlfriend and her parents and we were walking around as we do sometimes, when this spot caught my attention. I’m a big fan of the “old things” like analogue photography, vinyl discs, old consoles and games, and so on… this is not exactly that but I had to go in.
This is a place of history, of recent Portuguese history. It could almost be a museum rather than a shop. This is a place where you can see, buy, touch and know all about the Portuguese tiles from the last 50 years. If you want to take, as a souvenir from Lisbon, a real authentic tile this is the spot to go to. And even if you don’t want to buy anything, the simple view of the place deserves the visit.
I’m used to seeing Lisbon’s tile covered buildings as one of the postcards of the city; it’s fair, they are beautiful. Unfortunately some of these tile covered buildings are neglected or abandoned and the tiles are stolen to be sold as souvenirs in flea markets; that’s the sad part of this history.
That’s also what makes this such an important spot. At “Cortiço & Netos” you can buy from an immense collection of tiles, all genuine and new, from the old Portuguese factories instead of an old, broken and stolen.
Remember! Don’t buy tiles in flea markets (Tiles on Flea Markets stolen from buildings)!
