Atrio CUFF LINKS Tile Men's Gift Portugal Groom Azulejo Antique 17th Century Tomar Santa Iria Church Diamond Point Gold Stainless Steel

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The Santa Iria Church was built in the 16th century and stands next to the Convent of Santa Iria, which is now abandoned. The entire church is covered from floor to ceiling with tiles! The tiles in this church are called "Diamond point" because the center looked like a pyramid or diamond. They are made up of a set of 9 tiles. The tiles in this church are the oldest Diamond Point tiles in Portugal. 1602 - They can also be found in a royal palace in Spain. The original maker of these was from North Africa in the 16th century.

According to Wikipedia:
The castle of Tomar was built around 1160 on a strategic location, over a hill and near river Nabão. It has an outer defensive wall and a citadel (alcáçova) with a keep inside. The Keep, a central tower of residential and defensive functions, was introduced in Portugal by the Templars, and the one in Tomar is one of the oldest in the country. Another novelty introduced in Portugal by the Templars( learned from decades of experience in Normandy and Brittany and elsewhere) are the round towers in the outer walls, which are more resistant to attacks than square towers. When the town was founded, most of its residents lived in dwellings located inside the protective outer walls of the castle.

The Romanesque round church is a Roman Catholic Church from the castle (charola, rotunda) was built in the second half of the 12th century by the Knights Templar. From the outside, the church is a 16-side polygonal structure, with strong buttresses, round windows and a bell-tower. Inside, the round church has a central, octagonal structure, connected by arches to a surrounding gallery (ambulatory). The general shape of the church is modelled after similar round structures in Jerusalem: the Mosque of Omar and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The capitals of the columns are still Romanesque (end of 12th century) and depict vegetal and animal motifs, as well as a Daniel in the Lions' Den scene. The style of the capitals shows the influence of artists working on the Cathedral of Coimbra, which was being built at the same time as the round church.
The interior of the round church is magnificently decorated with late gothic/manueline sculpture and paintings, added during a renovation sponsored by King Manuel I starting in 1499. The pillars of the central octagon and the walls of the ambulatory have polychrome statues of saints and angels under exuberant Gothic canopies, while the walls and ceilings of the ambulatory are painted with Gothic patterns and panels depicting the life of Christ. The paintings are attributed to the workshop of the court painter of Manuel I, the Portuguese Jorge Afonso, while the sculptured decoration is attributed to Flemish sculptor Olivier de Gand and the Spaniard Hernán Muñoz. A magnificent panel depicting the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, by Portuguese painter Gregório Lopes, was painted for the Round Church and now hangs in the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon.

During the administration of Prince Henry the Navigator (first half of the 15th century), a gothic nave was added to the round church of the Convent, thus turning the round church into a church apse. From 1510 onwards, King Manuel I ordered the rebuilding of the nave in the style of the time, a mix of late gothic and renaissance that would be called Manueline style by art historians. The architects involved were the Portuguese Diogo de Arruda and the Spaniard João de Castilho.
From the outside, the rectangular nave is covered by abundant Manueline motifs, including gargoyles, gothic pinnacles, statues and "ropes" that remind the ones used in the ships during the Age of Discovery, as well as the Cross of the Order of Christ and the emblem of King Manuel I, the armillary sphere. The so-called Window of the Chapter House (Janela do Capítulo), a huge window visible from the Saint Barbara Cloister in the Western façade of the nave, carries most of the typical Manueline motifs: the symbols of the Order of Christ and of Manuel I, and fantastic and unprecedented elaborations of ropes, corals and vegetal motifs. A human figure in the bottom of the window probably represents the designer, Diogo de Arruda. This window of the Convent constitutes one of the masterworks of Manueline decoration. Above is a smaller circular window and a balustrade. The façade is divided by two string courses of knotted ropes. The round angle buttresses are decorated with gigantic garters (alluding to investiture of Manuel I by the Order of the Garter by the English king Henry VII).
The entrance of the church is done through a magnificent lateral portal, also decorated with abundant Manueline motifs and statues of the Virgin with the Child as well as the Prophets of the Old Testament. This portal was designed by João de Castilho around 1530.
In the interior, the Manueline nave is connected to the Romanesque round church by a large arch. The nave is covered by beautiful ribbed vaulting and has a high choir that used to have Manueline choir stalls, unfortunately destroyed by invading Napoleonic troops in the early 19th century. Under the high choir there is a room that used to be the sacristy of the church. Its window is the famous Chapter House Window already mentioned.
The Convent of Christ has a total of eight cloisters, built in the 15th and 16th centuries. Some examples:
Claustro da Lavagem (Washing Cloister): Two-storey gothic cloister built around 1433 under Henry the Navigator. The garments of the monks used to be washed in this cloister, hence the name.
Claustro do Cemitério (Cloister of the Cemetery): Also built under Henry the Navigator, this gothic cloister was the burial site for the knights and monks of the Order. The elegant twin columns of the arches have beautiful capitals with vegetal motifs, and the walls of the ambulatory are decorated with 16th-century tiles. In a manueline tomb (circa 1523) rests Diogo da Gama, brother of navigator Vasco da Gama.
Claustro de Santa Bárbara (Saint Barbara's Cloister): Built in the 16th century. The Chapter House Window and the West façade of the manueline nave of the church are visible from this cloister.
Claustro de D. João III (Cloister of John III): Started under King John III of Portugal, was finished during the reign of Philip I of Portugal (also King of Spain under the name of Philip II). The first architect was the Spaniard Diogo de Torralva, who began the work in 1557, to be finished in 1591 by Philip II's architect, the Italian Filippo Terzi. This magnificent, two-storey cloister connects the dormitory of the monks to the church, and is considered one of the most important examples of Mannerist architecture in Portugal. The storeys are connected to each other by four elegant helicoidal stairways, located at each corner of the cloisters.

WEAR A PIECE OF HISTORY!

QUESTION: Are your tiles real antique Portuguese Azulejo tiles?
ANSWER: Absolutely not. In our description of each item, we try to call attention to the theft and destruction of antique Portuguese tiles. Even the tiles found in flea markets and antique stores were most likely stolen off a building during the night. We have seen entire home facades disappear during the night to thieves. Thankfully, Portugal just passed a law declaring this theft a crime. We can only hope that it will one day be enforced.
For this reason, we have no part in this despicable crime. We make our own tiles from polymer clay. Ceramic would be far too heavy for earrings and impossible to mold into the shapes we want. For the hoops, we mold the clay as thin as we can get it, so that it will look pretty inside the hoops.

Included with each Cuff link purchase is a Gift box. They are 17.5mm square and solid stainless steel.

Please feel free to email me with any questions you may have.

Thank you,
Atrio
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The term Azulejo or Tile dates back to the time of Arab occupation of the Iberian Peninsula. The term "azulejo is derived from the Arab word (al zulej) which means a smooth and polished stone. It wasn't until the 16th century that the process was perfected into the tile we know today.
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+ Please note that some of our items will come with a tag stating "Return only accepted if tag is attached". There are no exceptions to this policy. 🌺ATTENTION: There is a 5% RESTOCKING fee per item PLUS a $3.50 fee for returned items.
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Although the tiles are water resistant, care should be taken to keep the tiles and metal out of water and away from lotions, including cosmetics, sunscreen, hairspray, etc. The chemicals in these products will dull the finish on the tiles.
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All my tiles are replicas made of polymer clay where the image actually becomes part of the clay through baking. No glue is used in the process. The pieces become waterproof and scratch resistant. Due to the handmade and hand shaped nature of each tile, slight variations will occur, as no two pieces are alike.
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Wear a Piece of History!