Portuguese sidewalk

Portuguese pavement

Watch your step... you might be treading waves, stars, fishes and flowers.

Portuguese pavement (Portuguese, 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.

1 Origins
2 Setting the stones
3 An unsure future
4 Calçada as a form of art
5 References

Origins

Paving as a craft is believed to have originated in 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 connecting 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 needed water to crops, the Moors engineered a complex system of dams and waterways. Examples of the latter, known 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.

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 workers (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 bituminous 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.