The Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta is one of the most important structures in the city of Aquileia. The city was important in the spread of Christianity in the region. Like a lot of structures at the time, the basilica is adorned with mosaics. Most of these are on the floor, presumably because it would be hard to keep them in place if they were put on the ceiling or on the wall. So the floor it is. I have been to old Roman houses before and this seems to be common way of decorating their homes. It is also some sort of a status symbol since you need to have some money to be able to afford to get something like this made.

The basilica being the basilica has practically the entire floor covered in mosaic. The images depicted in the mosaics vary but one this is for sure, there would be religious themes depicted in them. I can’t help by imagine how mosaic is a form of low resolution art. One can think of each piece as a pixel on a screen. It is incredible to find out that the artists of the time managed to fill up an entire church’s floor with mosaic. Unfortunately, not all of the mosaic was saved but there are still large portions remaining to be appreciated by visitors. These are protected by only letting visitors walk on elevated platforms to preserve the state of the mosaic.

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