GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The house of Said al-Ghazali, 63, in Silwan town south of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem gives the impression of being in the Italian city of Rome. Mosaic paintings — which Said handmade to reflect the art and architectural history of Rome after visiting there six months ago — cover his walls.

In early April, after continuous hard work since the beginning of 2017, Said managed to turn his house into an Italian mosaic museum to revive this art that disappeared in the Palestinian territories and in which people have shown no interest.

Mosaic is an ancient form of art that was used to cover the floors of a variety of buildings in Rome during the Roman Empire. This art requires great attention to detail and precision. It also includes using small pieces to decorate floor gaps and walls by fixating them to the tiles and other surfaces and forming various multicolored designs. Most mosaics are made of small, flat, roughly square pieces of stone or glass of different colors. These colored pieces are then laid out in a decorative way to express religious, artistic and traditional influential art.

After Said returned from Rome, he wanted to revive the ancient mosaic art that decorated the Dome of the Rock in Al-Aqsa Mosque. So he went to the dome to observe the designs that the Umayyads had painted in A.D 750. He also navigated the internet to learn the technique and discover the necessary tools.