{"id":677,"date":"2020-05-22T17:46:32","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T17:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tasteporto.com\/?p=677"},"modified":"2025-12-19T16:05:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T16:05:32","slug":"the-portuguese-swallow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tasteporto.com\/pt\/the-portuguese-swallow\/","title":{"rendered":"The Portuguese Swallow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cCan you explain the deal with that little black ceramic bird I keep seeing everywhere?\u201d We get this question a lot. In fact, we\u2019ve even talked about the Portuguese swallow with the National Geographic crew<\/a>.

When you come to Porto, you\u2019ll start noticing it almost immediately… in tiles, graffiti, shop windows, and ceramic pieces: a small black bird, quietly watching over the city. Not just Porto, actually. You\u2019ll find it all across Portugal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For generations, Portuguese children learned about it in school. Every spring, as the swallows returned, so did the children\u2019s creative projects inspired by this bird. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But why this bird? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

And why has it become such a powerful symbol? One of our guests asked us exactly that, so we went digging!<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"andorinha<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The bird is a swallow \u2014 andorinha<\/em> in Portuguese \u2014 and its story as a national symbol begins in 1891, with one of Portugal\u2019s most iconic artists, Rafael Bordallo Pinheiro<\/a>.. That year, he created a series of ceramic swallows. They quickly found their way into Portuguese homes, becoming a symbol of what a Portuguese house should feel like (something that still resonates today).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did they become so popular? No one knows for sure. But it likely has something to do with love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A post shared by Taste Porto – Food Tours (@portofoodtours)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n