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Hidden gem4th – 6th c. ADTicketed

Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra

House of the Stone Carpets

town house · Emilia-Romagna, Italy

What it is
The Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra, the "house of the stone carpets", is a late Roman house in the centre of Ravenna whose mosaic floors were found in 1993 and are now shown in a modern hall about 3 m below today's street level (it.wikipedia; de.wikipedia).
What you’ll see
You go in through the small 18th-century church of Sant'Eufemia and down into a modern underground hall, then follow a raised walkway along the rooms of the house, close to the floors: the reception hall where visitors were received, and private rooms, corridors, courtyards and nymphaea, or fountain rooms (RavennAntica).
Worth the trip?
If you are in Ravenna for the mosaics, yes. It is a few minutes' walk from San Vitale, it costs €6, and it shows mosaic as the flooring of a grand house, where the churches the town is famous for show it on their walls and vaults.
Getting there & cost
The entrance is at Via Barbiani 16, through the church of Sant'Eufemia (RavennAntica), about 200 m from the Basilica of San Vitale and about 1 km in a straight line from Ravenna railway station (OpenStreetMap).Ticketed · €6 · checked 23 October 2026Hours, tickets and parking
A wide, low underground hall lit by ceiling spotlights, its floor covered with mosaic in a pattern of red and white squares, a figured panel at the centre, square white pillars carrying the roof and a glass-sided walkway along the right.
The underground hall that covers the house's floors. · Photo: Stefano Casano · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Mosaic floors in grey, white and ochre stretching away under a dark ceiling with spotlights, between rows of white pillars, with a railed walkway at the far end where visitors stand.
Mosaic floors seen from the edge of the visitors' route. · Photo: Simone Masini · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Close-up of mosaic tesserae showing a hooded figure wrapped in a dark green cloak and, beside it, a young man playing a set of pan pipes.
Winter, in a green cloak, and the piper whose pan pipes the Seasons dance to. · Photo: Mentnafunangann · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra, the “house of the stone carpets”, is a late Roman house in the centre of Ravenna whose mosaic floors were found in 1993 and are now shown in a modern hall about 3 m below today’s street level (it.wikipedia; de.wikipedia). More than 400 square metres of polychrome mosaic and marble flooring survive, from a residence of the 5th–6th century AD (RavennAntica).

What is there today

You go in through the small 18th-century church of Sant’Eufemia and down into a modern underground hall, then follow a raised walkway along the rooms of the house, close to the floors: the reception hall where visitors were received, and private rooms, corridors, courtyards and nymphaea, or fountain rooms (RavennAntica). Published figures for the area of the mosaics run from 400 to 700 square metres (RavennAntica; it.wikipedia); either way, this is a large spread of floor, decorated with geometric and plant motifs and a few figured scenes (de.wikipedia; it.wikipedia).

Two figured mosaics are the ones people come for. The Dance of the Genii of the Seasons, the central panel of a large floor, shows the Seasons dancing hand in hand in a ring to the music of a pan pipe, a very rare way of showing them (RavennAntica). Spring wears red and a crown of roses, Autumn white and Winter a green cloak; Summer, whose hands the other two hold, is lost, and a piper stands at the upper right (it.wikipedia). The Good Shepherd is a young, short-haired figure in a tunic between two fawns, drawn on the model of Orpheus; the operator notes that it lacks some of the marks of a sacred image but may still have had a Christian meaning (RavennAntica). It is more damaged than the Dance, with half the face lost, and the panel on display is a copy: the original is in the museum at Classe (it.wikipedia). The visit begins and ends in the church, which holds paintings from the Barbiani workshop (the site’s own website).

Is it worth the trip?

If you are in Ravenna for the mosaics, yes. It is a few minutes’ walk from San Vitale, it costs €6, and it shows mosaic as the flooring of a grand house, where the churches the town is famous for show it on their walls and vaults. The Dance of the Seasons alone is worth the detour. Be clear about what it is: a house reduced to its floors, seen from a walkway under a modern roof, not a building you walk through. It complements the town’s UNESCO monuments; it is not a reason on its own to travel to Ravenna.

Getting there and what it costs

The entrance is at Via Barbiani 16, through the church of Sant’Eufemia (RavennAntica), about 200 m from the Basilica of San Vitale and about 1 km in a straight line from Ravenna railway station (OpenStreetMap). Bus stops named p.zza Baracca and D’Azeglio are within about 120 m, and the nearest car park, the paying one in Piazza Francesco Baracca, is about 120 m away (OpenStreetMap).

It opens 10.00–17.00 every day until 8 November 2026; from 9 November it is open Tuesday to Sunday and closed on Mondays. Last entry is 20 minutes before closing. A ticket is €6, reduced €5 or €4; children under 6 go free, as do under-26s every Wednesday and disabled visitors with a companion, among others (RavennAntica’s official ticket office, read 23 October 2026 - check before travelling). Guided visits are arranged on request through RavennAntica’s booking office (RavennAntica). The Domus has its own ticket, sold by RavennAntica: the diocese’s combined tickets for San Vitale and the other churches do not include it (Opera di Religione della Diocesi di Ravenna).

Visiting details

Opening hours
10.00–17.00, daily until 8 November 2026; from 9 November Tuesday to Sunday, closed on Mondays. Last entry 20 minutes before closing.
Tickets
€6; reduced €5, or €4 for the special reduced rate and school pupils; free for children under 6, for under-26s every Wednesday, and for disabled visitors with a companion, among other listed categories.
Parking
Piazza Francesco Baracca, a paying car park of about 65 spaces, is about 120 m from the entrance (OpenStreetMap way/249206740).

Before you go

  • The entrance is through the small church of Sant'Eufemia at Via Barbiani 16; Via D'Azeglio 47, an address some descriptions give, is where the floors were excavated.

Hours and prices checked 23 October 2026 on the operator's own site. Confirm before travelling.

History

The site was found by chance in 1993, during building work for underground garages at Via D’Azeglio 47. What came to light was a palace decorated throughout with mosaics and marble inlay, dated to the Byzantine period (it.wikipedia); the operator dates the complex to the 5th–6th century and calls it late antique, while de.wikipedia narrows it to the 6th century. The name, “stone carpets”, was coined by Federico Zeri (RavennAntica).

Of the complicated archaeology the dig uncovered, it was decided to present the rooms and mosaic floors of the late antique house, in a modern installation (RavennAntica). The Domus was opened on 30 October 2002 by the President of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, during the celebrations of 1,600 years since Ravenna became capital of the Western Roman Empire (it.wikipedia). It won the Premio Bell’Italia in 2004 and the Premio Francovich in 2017 (RavennAntica).

More photographs

Seen at an angle on the floor, a figured mosaic panel of people in short tunics dancing hand in hand, part of it lost and filled with plain mortar, framed by a carpet of squares and lozenges with geometric and leaf motifs.
The Dance of the Seasons, the central panel of a large floor, among its geometric surround. · Photo: Mentnafunangann · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A mosaic panel mounted on a wall. A young man in a short striped tunic and patterned leggings, holding a staff, touches the head of a deer; a second deer grazes at the right, two birds perch on branches behind him and a set of pan pipes hangs from a tree at his side. The lower half of his face is lost. A broad plaited border runs round three sides.
The Good Shepherd, a young, short-haired figure between two deer. · Photo: Zairon · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A mosaic floor of interlocking circles and ovals with small leaf and vase motifs, patched in places with plain mortar, running between white pillars to a railed walkway at the back.
One of the geometric "stone carpets", beside the raised walkway. · Photo: NICLASPA · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Nearby

  • Inside a long modern hall with a wooden ceiling and a glass wall looking out onto a street, the low walls and patterned mosaic floors of excavated rooms lie below the visitors' level.

    Photo: Capvalerio85 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons

    50 km · town house · Emilia-Romagna

    Domus del Chirurgo

    The excavation covers about 700 m², and the first mosaics lay some 2.5 m below the modern ground (it.wikipedia).

  • A tall single-arched gate faced in pale stone, with columns either side of the opening and a pediment above it, topped by a band of brick with swallowtail battlements; low stretches of brick wall run off on both sides, with a lawn and a flowerbed in front.

    Photo: Il Malatestiano · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons

    50 km · city · Emilia-Romagna

    Ariminum – Rimini

    The historic centre keeps the Roman town's street plan (en.wikipedia, Rimini), and its monuments are a short walk apart.

Straight-line distances.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from the records below, each used under the licence noted.

SourceLicence
Wikidata Q1238780CC0
Vici.org 100448CC BY-SA (text), CC0 (metadata)
OpenStreetMap node/4031165344ODbL
Wikipedia (it) — Domus dei tappeti di pietraCC BY-SA 4.0
Wikipedia (de) — Domus dei Tappeti di PietraCC BY-SA 4.0
RavennAntica — Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra (the operator)licence not recorded
Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra — the site's own website (RavennAntica)licence not recorded
RavennAntica — Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra, hours and tickets (official ticket office)licence not recorded
Opera di Religione della Diocesi di Ravenna — hours and prices (its combined tickets)licence not recorded