Tapestries and needlework
Photo: João Paulo
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Tapestries and needlework/
Tapestries and needlework
Place: Arraiolos
Photo: Sebastião da Fonseca

Arraiolos carpets and Portalegre tapestries are the crown jewels of our textile tradition. Do you know them?

Do you know the village of Arraiolos in the south of Portugal? But perhaps you have already heard about the carpets... They have been handmade, in pure wool, since the 16th century, and they have an international reputation. The first designs were influenced by the compositions of old Persian carpets. Excellent needlewomen continue to produce them, making replicas and creating exclusive pieces. And they look as good in our house as in a palace.

Also in the south, tapestries are made in Portalegre, a real expression of the Portuguese creative mind. By innovating on the basis of a traditional technique, the design is built up stitch by stitch and impressively detailed with 25,000 stitches per m².
The detail allows the accurate reproduction of works of art with such perfection that we challenge you to discover the differences between the tapestries and the originals made by Vieira da Silva, Júlio Pomar or Paula Rego.

As for smaller pieces, get to know our needlework, which is a more popular expression of this art. Admire those from Madeira or Vila do Conde. If you love someone, offer him or her a small lovers’ handkerchief from Viana do Castelo. It is very colourful and has an embroidered expression of love to allay the longing.

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