Mosaic-making is a living craft in Madaba, kept alive by a sequence of vocational schools and workshops that train artisans in the techniques used for the Byzantine floors. The Madaba Institute for Mosaic Art and Restoration, set up in 1992 with Italian support, is the largest of these — students learn to cut tesserae from local limestone, lay them, and restore damaged ancient works.
Visitors are welcome to walk through the workshop yards (free, mornings on weekdays) and watch mosaics being made. Many of the smaller mosaic shops along Talal Street are run by graduates of these schools and produce work of much higher quality than the standard tourist trinket. A real and unusual sight, well worth an hour.