Albercan Designs

While at the Englishtown program, we stayed in a small village called La Alberca. It is a beautiful medieval town, filled with narrow winding streets and charming homes. Although Muslims, Christians and Jews lived together peacefully as neighbors there, it became a site of the Spanish Inquisition, many doorways are marked to let them know it was a Christian home. The fluid designs are particular to the region and were passed down from mother to daughter. Lions and birds representing the male and female, birds for husband and wife, trees of life representing marriage, the designs usually symmetrical. I bought a handmade and painted tile with the "la mujer enamorada" bird design.