Triana and Ceramic Tiles

13 May 2009



A great aspect of visiting a new city for weeks, rather than for days, it the potential to see beneath the surface. Sevilla has a layered richness that could keep an observant visitor occupied for months. For now, our few weeks will have to do.

During our first days here, we noticed an abundance of ceramic tiles. These not only appeared in parks and on monuments, but also in more ordinary circumstances: street signs, shop names, even advertisements, typically for alcoholic beverages!

So, today I set out looking for ceramic tiles in the city to photograph. On part of my walk, I again crossed the Rio Guadalquivar at Puente de Isabel II Triana and headed into Triana. I had recalled from an earlier walk seeing several ceramic shops here that had the look of being connected to factories. Investigating later (on the web of course), I found that the Triana has a very long tradition of making excellent ceramic tiles; these are common souvenirs to bring home from Sevilla.

Wandering the neighborhoods in Triana and in old central Sevilla, I spotted many tiles that I found visually interesting; the best of these are displayed here.

The Studebaker panel at the top is about six feet tall and adorns the side of a building on a busy upscale shopping street. The second shot is of an "ordinary" street sign in Triana. On several apartment buildings I saw religious shrines made of ceramic tiles, as depicted in the third photo. The fourth and fifth photos illustrate another common theme: tiles that commemorate the lives and accomplishments of famous locals, in this case the first famous Andalusian star of cinema (Antoñita Colome) and the father of Andalusian folklore ("Demofilo"). The sixth and seventh tiles might be my favorites, because of their exquisite portrayals of Puente de Triana. The final picture is a close-up of the top of the smaller of the two towers on the west side of the Puente de Triana; these towers are the Capilla del Carmen, shown from a farther perspective in my 11 May post.