A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, porcelain, metal or even glass. Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors, and walls.
Tiles are often used to form wall and floor coverings, and can range from simple square tiles to complex mosaics. Tiles are most often made from ceramic, with a hard glaze finish, but other materials are also commonly used, such as glass.
In the past twenty years, the technology of porcelain and glass tiles has advanced, moving both from a niche marketplace to a place of prominence in the tile community.
Roof tiles
Roof tiles are designed mainly to keep out rain, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as clay or slate. Modern materials such as concrete and plastic are also used and some clay tiles have a waterproof glaze.
A large number of shapes (or "profiles") of roof tiles have evolved.
History
Fired roof tiles are found as early as the 3rd millennium BC in the House of the tiles in Lerna, Greece. Debris found at the site contained thousands of terracotta tiles having fallen from the roof. In the Mycenaean period, roofs tiles are documented for Gla and Midea.
Images for kids
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Mid-16th-century decorative tilework on the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
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Azulejos by Willem van der Kloet (1708) in the transept of the Church of Nossa Senhora da Nazaré; Nazaré, Portugal
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Relief made with glazed brick tiles, from the Achaemenid decoration of Persepolis.
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The Shah Mosque in Isfahan, Iran
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Tumurid turquoise-glazed muqarna. First half of the 15th century, Shah-i-Zinda
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Two panels of earthenware tiles painted with polychrome glazes over a white glaze. (Iran 19thC)
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Phoenix on the portal of Nadir Divan-Beghi Madrasah, Bukhara, Uzbekistan
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Casa de los Azulejos, Mexico City, 18th century, with azulejos
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Medieval encaustic tiles at Cleeve Abbey, England
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17th century Delft blue and white tile with seamonster
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William de Morgan, fantastic ducks on 6-inch tile with luster highlights, Fulham period
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A late Art Nouveau kiosk (1923) in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria covered with tiles from Manises, Spain.
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Roofs with "beaver tail" tiles in Dinkelsbühl, Germany
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The elaborate floor pattern of the Sydney Queen Victoria Building
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Floor tile in Karpas, northeastern Cyprus
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6"x6" porcelain floor tiles
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Enderun library, Topkapi Palace
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Window Apartments of the Crown Prince, Topkapi Palace
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Quadra (architecture) of St. John the Baptist covered with azulejos in carpet style (17th c.); Museu da Reinha D. Leonor; Beja, Portugal.
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The Battle of Buçaco, depicted in azulejos.
