Ancient Mosaics of the Mediterranean

Mosaic art began in the 10th century BCE as a long-lasting floor covering in Mediterranean cultures. Some of the world’s greatest ancient mosaics can be viewed in Italy (Sicily, Venice, Ravenna, Rome and Naples), Turkey (Istanbul), Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.Because mosaics are a part of a site’s architecture and must necessarily be viewed in situ, seeing them is an experience unique to travelers.This Approach Guide reviews the stylistic development of mosaics over a...
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Mosaic art began in the 10th century BCE as a long-lasting floor covering in Mediterranean cultures. Some of the world’s greatest ancient mosaics can be viewed in Italy (Sicily, Venice, Ravenna, Rome and Naples), Turkey (Istanbul), Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.Because mosaics are a part of a site’s architecture and must necessarily be viewed in situ, seeing them is an experience unique to travelers.This Approach Guide reviews the stylistic development of mosaics over a 1000-year period (400 BCE to 1453 CE), that is, from the pioneering Late Classical Hellenistic Period to the equally impressive Palaeologan Era in the late stages of the Byzantine Empire. As you might imagine, the style ebbs and flows over this lengthy period, with forms that range from highly realistic to more abstract and symbolic. To make this temporal fluctuation easier to process, we break this stylistic transformation into nine distinct periods and profile the defining characteristics for each. We then continue with detailed reviews of key mosaics sites throughout the Mediterranean basin and integrate them into this stylistic framework. This Approach Guide includes detailed reviews of mosaics sites in the following geographies: ★ Italy (Palermo, Piazza Armerina, Rome, Ravenna, Milan, Venice, and Naples)★ Turkey (Istanbul)★ Jordan (sites along the King’s Highway)★ Syria (Damascus)★ Egypt (St. Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai Peninsula)USING THIS GUIDEBOOKWhether you plan to visit multiple cities on your trip or to focus on a single city, our Approach Guide to the Ancient Mosaics of the Mediterranean will help guide your itinerary.Visiting One City: Use this travel guide to plan a half-day or full-day tour of the most important mosaic sites in one city (for example in Palermo or Istanbul). You will begin to see differences in artistic styles, understand the “why” behind the changes and will naturally begin to make comparisons between the sites you visit during the tour.Visiting Several Cities: Explore the beautiful mosaics of Byzantine and Christian mosaic art by using our guide to identify one or two “must-see” sites in each city you visit. Not only will you gain an appreciation for how the style of mosaic art ebbed and flowed over time, you will be able to understand how the unique history of each city influenced the overall development of mosaic art.It is our hope that this will allow travelers to appreciate how any given site fits into the larger landscape of mosaic art. We hope you enjoy what we believe is a totally unique cultural guide to ancient Mediterranean mosaics.PUBLISHER’S NOTEOne of the benefits of eBooks is that we can easily update content and release new editions of our guidebooks. These updates are FREE for existing customers. Please visit http://approachguides.com/updates for a list of recently updated guides and instructions on downloading the new version.PRAISE FOR APPROACH GUIDESCompulsive (and compulsively informed) travelers, the Raezers are the masterminds behind the downloadable Approach Guides, which are filled with a university course-worth of history and insights for 62 destinations worldwide. WHY WE LOVE IT: The Raezers share our desire for deep, well-researched information on the wonders of the world.- Travel + LeisureWhat started as one couple’s travel notes aimed at filling in the gaps in guidebooks has become ApproachGuides.com — a menu of downloadable travel guides that cover cultural and historical topics of interest to thoughtful travelers. What’s hot: Bite-sized travel guides that specialize in topics ranging from 29 pages on the foods of Italy to one that helps you explore the historical and architectural significance of Angkor’s famous temple structures in Cambodia.- LA Times