Terrazzo flooring – an ancient still modern floor

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The history of terrazzo flooring began in the Hellenistic period: already in the ancient Greece, indeed, floors were made of river stones cemented with lime or clay, and although these floors had a different name, we can consider them as the ancestors of terrazzo flooring. From Greece this special technique reached also Italy: in Roman times there were floorings called opus signimium, which were realised with a mixture of brick fragments and lime, and opus segmentatum, which were different from the first ones because they also contained small pieces of marble.

 

With the passing of time this type of flooring has evolved and become widespread in many areas, but it has always maintained its essential peculiarities. In the zone of Venice it was notably successful, and the reason why terrazzo flooring is also known as venetian terrazzo is that it was in Venice that the technique of terrazzo flooring reached its peak, and it was in Venice that the Statute of  terrazzo makers was written in 1586. The statute, which included 17 chapters, was meant to give terrazzo makers the chance to meet and deal with important issues, as well as to establish the rules of the Scuola (confraternity) of terrazzo makers. To enter the confraternity and become a “terrazzer” (terrazzo maker) people had to stand special proofs and prove to be able to build a terrazzo. The confraternity had been founded some years before the Statute: it was in 1582 that the Scuola dei Terrazzai, which had its seat in the now demolished Church of San Paternian, was founded by Giobatta Crovato together with other terrazzo makers. Hence we understand that the work of terrazzo makers was seen as an important work, and the creation of terrazzo flooring was equal to other arts.

 

The history and evolutions of terrazzo flooring are still known thanks to ancient writings, like “Della Architettura” (on Architecture) by Giovanni Antonio Rusconi, a work that includes the first image of the fabrication of a terrazzo. The work was published in 1590, but the woodcuts date back to the middle of the 16th century. At the end of the century the techniques used to realise this special type of flooring were already well-known and fixed, and in the following centuries they have developed without changing completely. Lime, for example, has been replaced by cement, while electricity has changed the way cement is polished: not manually, but mechanically.

 

Apart from these little changes, we can assert that the art of terrazzo flooring has always been the same for centuries, and is still used to embellish our houses.