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Turkey

Istanbul

Mosaic Museum

 
As Istanbul was a commercial and cultural center during the Roman and Byzantine empires, many buildings were adorned with fantastic mosaics. None, however, compared with those built into the Byzantine Imperial Palace, built by the emperor Justinian I in the 500s and sacked by crusaders in 1206. Left to fall into ruin, the palace was rediscovered after a fire swept through the Ishakpasa area of Sultanahmet in 1912.
The museum stands on the site where ongoing excavations are taking place, and offers a small glimpse at some of the treasures found in the ruins.


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