Culture by IneXisTenZ
Each people that have passed through the territory, that comprehends theactual Portugal have left their mark in terms of culture. From Roman times, and even from before then, as a result of the long Arab presence and their own maritime voyages to Africa, the Far East and the Southern Atlantic, the Portuguese have built up a unique culture and a different art. Especially in the south, Portuguese architecture is a knowledgeable blend of Arab features and European styles such as the Renaissance. Of them all, the Manueline style (16th-century), an exaltation of the Portuguese overseas expansion, is perhaps the most original. Some of these masterpieces are considered World Heritage, and Portugal, a small country, is proud of having no less than 12 classified sites!
The art of the 'azulejos', the glazed decorative tile, inherited from the Moors, was used in Portugal in a very different way from all the other European countries. The most distinctive tiles are the blue and white azulejos of the baroque period. They are used to line the walls of churches, cloisters and palaces, forming a kind of graffiti that tells us the stories of saints or recounts profane themes, such as... the fables of La Fontaine.
Kept at Portuguese Museums are magical pieces that teach people about our art and history and show us the works of art that were born from the artistic inspiration of the Portuguese in their encounters with other peoples. More.
But culture is also the reflection of a lifestyle. Calm and tranquil (except when behind a steering-wheel) and endowed with an innate sense of politeness, the Portuguese have a melancholic side to them, that they refer to as ?saudade? and which finds its most moving expression in Fado.
