Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra - Ravenna

The Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra (Stone Carpets) is an extraordinary archeological site, one of the most important Italian sites discovered in recent decades. Between 1993 and 1994, the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of the Emilia Romagna region unearthed a complex of overlapping structures during construction work at no.47 Via D'Azeglio.
These structures were found to date from the Roman Republican (III-II centuries. BC) to the Byzantine period.

Among the many buildings discovered, a Byzantine palace (early sixth century) is of particular interest. We can see fourteen rooms and three courtyards. All of the rooms - probably owned by a court official - were paved with marble inlay and mosaics of a sophisticated geometry with polychrome tesserae inserts. The mosaics are almost all well preserved: particular attention should be paid to the mosaic in room No 10.
This is of the high technical level and it represents the centre of La danza dei Geni delle Stagioni (dance of the genies of the seasons).
In 2002, after their restoration, the Stone Carpets were put back in the place where they were discovered, in a specially built underground area, which the public can access through the church of St. Euphemia.