Mosaics, tiles and ceramics in Tossa de Mar

* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
12 February 2024 Monday 22:04
7 Reads
Mosaics, tiles and ceramics in Tossa de Mar

* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia

These days with relatively few tourists in Tossa de Mar, in the La Selva region, we can find in this unique villa Roman mosaics, Tossan tiles on the floor of the promenade and ceramics with various motifs on some walls, as we see in Photos of the Readers of La Vanguardia.

We can see them in two different locations: in the Vil·la dels Ametllers, where they are on the floor horizontally, and also in the municipal museum, where the unique Vitalis mosaic can be found on a wall to better enjoy the its visualization.

This villa was discovered by Dr. Ignacio Melé in 1914. It is one of the most important Roman villas of its time. It was an agricultural establishment and was dedicated to the production of wine for mass consumption.

It is distributed in two areas: the urban part and the rural part. In the rural part we can see the base of the press and the structures intended mainly for storage. The urban part is the noble part and gives us an idea of ​​the luxury that surrounded the town in the 2nd century AD. Highlights include the triclinium, the temple, the thermal baths, the discovery of a winter dining room and the sophisticated water reuse system.

The sculptural pieces found, as well as the Vitalis mosaic, can be seen in the Municipal Museum of Tossa.

The City Council has personified some of the tiles that are placed on the floor. We have seen up to four variants: one alluding to the main tower of the old town, another of a boat, a third of an urbanization with many pine trees and a fourth of a spiral that supposedly reminds us of some inhabitant of the sea. We congratulate you for such a unique and beautiful initiative.

We have also seen it in other populations. The ones we have in Tossa are mostly allusive to the name of the street or awards received when there were contests to beautify the streets of the town.