Rome wasn't built in a day. In some ways, it was put together piece by piece.
The intricate mosaics, found in almost every corner of the city, depict ancient Roman life as it would have been thousands of years ago. They are, in fact, ancient selfies of sorts, many of them portraits, and all created from the craft of assembling small pieces of colored glass and stone to create elaborate images and patterns.
But there's more than meets the eye. The designs of hundreds of tesserae, glass or stone cubes, come together in such a finite way that oftentimes the images appear to have been painted.
The final chapter is a stop at a historic bottega, or apprentice's workshop, where guests try their hand at the art of mosaic.
Guests of J.K. Place Roma get an up-close glimpse of Roman mosaic-making with an expert guide that goes beyond the surface of these tiled masterpieces, delving into the craft and technique of the mesmerizing works. The in-depth tour goes inside Rome's most fascinating basilicas, where some of the earliest mosaics remain intact, some dating as far back as 410 A.D.
The final chapter of the experience involves a stop at a historic bottega, a term from the Renaissance used to describe an apprentice's workshop, where guests will try their hand at the art of mosaic-making. There, they’ll receive the expert tutelage of a mosaic maestro as they are artfully known, to help orchestrate their own tiled masterpiece–a self-made souvenir of an unforgettable, ancient experience.
To learn more about J.K. Place Roma, or to arrange a mosaic tour, please contact the concierge upon making a reservation.