Granada’s Famous Tiles

Granada is famous for its beautiful churches and colonial houses; it is also famous for one feature of these buildings that I found absolutely fascinating.

Unlike the grand buildings of Europe, marble is not readily available here. Instead the floors are made of colourful tiles set in intricate designs. The more elaborate the design the richer the household.

Most of us are used to ceramic glazed tiles, some with hand painted finishes. Granada’s famous tiles are made in a very different manner, as we found out when we visited the Tile Factory in town.

Upon entering the building there is no clatter of big machinery, just the occasional trundle of a laden wheelbarrow moving finished tiles or delivering materials to the two tile makers.

Each tile is hand made using molds that are over 100 years old. The base is highly polished and oiled onto which clamps the frame, into this is poured a mixture of cement and color pigment (all made from natural ingredients and mixed by hand). While we were there they were making plain 12 “tiles in a ochre red, once the pigment was poured it was set with a sifting of dry cement on it. On top of this the workers added handfuls of mixed cement, smoothed it out & topped it up as necessary. They then added a press plate and slid it on a well-oiled grove under a press (the only mechanical device used in the entire process). The tile is then turned out and stacked on its side to dry.

The second worker who also was using the same press, was making edging tiles these are approx. 3 x 6 inches and are used to edge a room (just as we would use baseboards) and are of course designed to complement the main design. This is where we really got to see the difference in how these tiles are made. Again a oiled base and a mold into which was placed a metal divider, the different colour pigments are then carefully poured into the separate compartments (some of the tiles we saw had designs using 4 or more colours). The divider is carefully removed and again the pigment is set, by sifting cement over it, add the wet concrete and then press.

The stacked tiles are allowed to dry and are then soaked and dried three times in total to make them stronger. The result is a very sturdy thick tile, with a built in pattern that graces and cools these beautiful colonial homes.

Granada tiles are reproduced by machine worldwide due to a growing demand and I can understand why.  If we ever have a need for them, this is where I am placing my order. Who would have thought that tiles could be this beautiful and fascinating?