Houses of Italica

Casa de la Exedra (Exedra´s house)

This was possibly the seat of a professional guild or of a group of people that worshipped a specific deity. Guilds did not admit women and ensured, amongst other things, that its members were given a proper burial.

The building takes up a block of 4,000 sqm approximately. The front of the house included the main entrance and several stores or ‘tabernae’. Inside, the rooms were spacious and built around a columned porch known as ‘peristylum’ that had a pond in the middle.

Casa de los Pajaros (Bird´s House)

The ‘house of the birds’ takes its name from the birds mosaic that decorates the floor of one its the rooms. This is a typical manor of Italica, the front including the main entrance to the home and several ‘tabernae’, or stores— a baker’s shop in this case.

The hall leads to an open colonnade surrounding a garden. All the rooms were around this open space. At the center of the courtyard is the ‘impluvium’ or water tank, which collected the rainwater.

The Mosaic of the Birds is found in what was once the living room of the villa. Unfortunately, the mosaic, which dates from the 2nd century AD, has lost the central motif.

Casa de Neptuno (Neptuno´s House)

Given the overall area of the house, the baths it contains, and its lavishness, this might have been the seat of a professional guild, of a confraternity or of a club, just like the Casa de la Exedra.

The house boasts four rooms with mosaics, the most significant one being the one called of Neptune, which is thought to have formed part of the decoration of the bottom of a pool.

The mosaic is a portrait of the god of the seas, Neptune, armed with his trident and driving a car pulled by two sea horses and surrounded by animals.

Casa del Planetario (Planetarium House)

The ‘house of the planetarium’ was built in keeping with the style of the houses of Exedra, of the Birds and of Neptune. The Planetarium mosaic is worth a visit. It depicts the seven gods related to the seven days of the week. In the central circle stand Venus (Friday), Selene-Moon (Monday), Mars (Tuesday), Mercury (Wednesday), Jupiter (Thursday), Saturn (Saturday) and Helios-Sun (Sunday).