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Watch your step... you might be threading waves, stars, fishes and flowers.
Calçada Portuguesa is the traditional paving used in most
pedestrian areas in Portugal. Being usually used in sidewalks, it is
in plazas and atriums this art finds its deepest expansion.
Origins
Paving as a craft is believed to have originated in the regions
of Mesopotamia, where rocky materials were used in the inside and
outside of constructions, being later brought to Ancient Greece
and Ancient Rome.
The Romans used to pave the vias that brought together the empire using materials to be found in the surroundings. Some of the techniques introduced are still applied on the Calçada, most noticeably the use of a foundation and a surfacing.
Arab presence in the peninsula left traces not only in language, but also in the art of paving. To provide most wanted water to crops, the Moors engineered a complex system of dams and waterways. Examples of the latter, know as acequias, can still be found in Portugal and Spain.
Setting the stones
Upon a well compacted trench of argillaceous materials, craftsmen lay a bedding of gravel, which will accommodate the stones, acting as a cement.
Calçada in Portugal
An unsure future
Once an activity performed by hundreds of craftsmen in Portuguese
cities and villages, traditional paving is increasingly becoming
restricted to conservation works or important architectural projects.
Less abundant materials, dwindling numbers of craftsmen and criticism
to its widespread use are forcing municipalities to consider other
alternatives.
Indeed, very few calceteiros will admit to enjoying this arduous
labour, where long hours are spent painstakingly laying the stones in
a prostrated position. Low wages fail to attract apprentices.
Paved sidewalks also present hazards to distraught pedestrians and
unpleasant barriers to people with physical impairments.
The high cost and reduced robustness of traditional paving in
comparison with concrete-based or betuminous materials, which have the
additional advantage of not requiring specialised craftsmen, are
favouring views that its use should be restricted to conservation
works or historical areas.
Calçada as a form of art
Stars at your feet in Lisboa Famous works
Detail of paving work near Praça de Camões References
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