Victorian era

Recently I’ve been reading about the history and origins of floor tiles.I focused on the nineteenth century, which had a great development of production of floors made with colored cement tiles. An important role was played here, of course, by the English. Inspiration was drawn from antiquity, Byzantine Empire and the Gothic era.Initially it was dominated by geometric patterns in the colour of terracotta and beige. Gradually, through the use of new technologies from Southern Europe (Morocco, Spain) new complex colourful compositions began to be produced.Thousands of new bespoke floor compositions have emerged, designed to match the interior, environment and purpose, which is why it’s hard to find two identical floors made with the same kind of tiles.A big fan of cement tiles was Queen Victoria. During her visit to the baronial mansion, built in the Scottish Iverlochy (near the ruins of the medieval Iverlochy Castle) by Lord Abigner, Victoria was delighted with the surroundings and the interior of the castle, describing it as a “very romantic place”.