Browsing by Author "Caro, Dominique Maria DI"

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    The lost mosaic of the ex Via del Littorio in Ortigia (Syracuse)
    (Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2022-09-02) Caro, Dominique Maria DI
    The oldest residential area of Syracuse is located in Ortigia, in the center of the island the excavations of the 19th century brought to light luxurious Roman houses with mosaic floors and opus sectile of a certain value. In the years 1927-1928, during the construction of the new Banco di Sicilia building, in Piazza Archimede, several walls emerged that also extended to the further north area, corresponding to Via del Littorio, today’s Corso Matteotti. Between 1934 and 1936, during the construction works, with the demolition of the old houses, in Via del Littorio and nearby, several sections of aqueducts and ruins of Roman houses were discovered and at about 10 m to the south, at the intersection with Via Giusto Monaco (ex S. Cristoforo), other wall structures and a portion of a large polychrome mosaic (2 x 2 m) with an emblema which represented Venus and Cupid dated to the “very late imperial age”. At the time of discovery, the mosaic was detached, as the publisher informs us, but currently the exact location is unknown and it is not recorded in the inventories, it is probably located in one of the museum external deposits. Here is proposed a reinterpretation of the mosaic, based on the details given by the discoverer (Cultrera 1940) and the analysis of the graphic and photographic material provided to me by the Soprintendenza BB.CC.AA. di Siracusa.