The defining visual feature of São Luís is its azulejos — the hand-painted ceramic tiles covering the facades of colonial buildings throughout the historic centre. Nowhere else in Brazil has anything like the concentration of tiled buildings found in Praia Grande, and the variety is extraordinary: geometric patterns, pastoral scenes, religious imagery, floral designs, maritime views, all in blue and white, yellow and white, or multicolour schemes.
The tradition of tiling facades was practical as well as aesthetic — the glazed tiles protect the underlying masonry from the tropical rain and reflect heat — but the Portuguese brought it as a cultural habit too. Walk Rua de Nazaré, Rua Portugal, and Rua do Giz slowly, looking at the facades. Many have plaques identifying the tile patterns and their periods. The best tiles date from the 18th and early 19th centuries; later ones are often machine-made and less interesting. Some of the finest examples are on buildings that are otherwise in poor repair, their tiled facades intact while the interiors crumble.