Wednesday 2nd September - Mosaics

Ravenna is on the tourist maps for one reason, its 1500 year old churches decorated with the best Byzantine mosaics. Known in roman times as Classe the city was an important port and after the fall of the Roman Empire in about 540AD the Byzantines made this the western most port of their empire until they were kicked out 200 years later.
The Byzantines built churches and had the beautiful mosaics lain mostly on the floors but also on some walls.

We were headed for the Domus of the Stone Carpets - Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra. This is a new and very extraordinary monument and was only discovered in the last few decades.

The Domus is a large space located 3 metres below the surrounding street level and has gorgeous mosaics dating back to the 6th century.
It has large pavement areas and about 14 rooms all with various mosaic patterns.