[Book Sip] A Place Where Blue Ripples with Every Step, Portugal

Some sentences encapsulate the entire content of the book itself, while others instantly reach the reader's heart, creating a connection with the book. We present meaningful sentences excerpted from the book. - Editor's note

This book tells the story of artists like Matisse and Chagall who ignited their artistic spirit in Provence and ended their lives there. The story begins in Porto, the origin of Portugal. Next come Cortegasa and Valega, Aveiro, Ilhavo, Costa Nova, Coimbra, Obidos, Sintra, Setubal, Evora, Beja, Algarve, and Lisbon. It is the record of the author who visited Portugal countless times over more than a decade.

When you arrive in Porto, there is one place you must visit first: S?o Bento Station. S?o Bento Station in Porto is undoubtedly the most beautiful station on earth. No other station can match this place adorned with elegant and splendid azulejo, that is, decorative tiles. The azulejo at S?o Bento Station resembles a mural. In fact, the azulejo itself is a mural made up of tiles. Although it is certainly composed of multiple tiles combined to complete one picture, it does not look like thousands of divided tiles but rather like a single painting. This is a great epic created with 20,000 tiles measuring 14cm by 14cm.

- From pages 21-22 of the main text

Porto is the premier outdoor exhibition hall for azulejo in Portugal. While Lisbon’s exquisite azulejo is hidden indoors and not easily visible, Porto’s masterpieces proudly display their majestic presence outdoors. What could be the reason for this contrast and Porto’s uniqueness? When you consider where the enormous wealth earned by this city through the sale and export of Port wine went, the answer quickly emerges. In a wealthy city of a devoutly Catholic country, even the churches must be affluent. Each church must have received an overwhelming amount of donations that were difficult to manage, and deciding how to use them must have been a concern. What is the easiest way to use them? Of course, charity and educational projects would come first, but if there was still money left? Probably building new churches or decorating existing ones would be the simplest option. Portugal is a very fervent Catholic country. Who could argue against the logic that decorating churches is directly proportional to the depth of one’s faith?

- From page 72 of the main text

Portugal is Blue | Written by Jo Yongjun | Dodo | 560 pages | 28,000 KRW