In the middle of Sicily lies the ruins of an Ancient Roman villa filled with amazing mosaics found nowhere else.
About 3km outside of the Sicilian town of Piazza Armerina is the amazing Villa Romana del Casale (often called Piazza Armerina), a 4th century Ancient Roman villa. This villa is truly unique due to its preservation, not of its walls, but of its beautiful mosaic floors.
Piazza Armerina (the villa, not the town) is huge. Sicily during Roman times was divided up into latifundia, large agricultural estates. This villa would have been the headquarters of one. A small town even developed around it to serve not only the villa and its residents but also the people who came to talk to its lord. The villa even has multiple reception rooms, a must for a working villa with multiple rolls, such as governing the local area and farming its own estates.
Public Domain The layout of the massive Villa Romana del Casale. The labels are mine and I will be referring to them throughout this post.
As you enter the site, one of the first things you see is the remains of the Northwest bathhouse. The little rooms (1) are the remains of the furnaces to eat the rooms next door.
The path circles you around to this partially destroyed entrance way. It was a porticoed entrance court (2), with tiled and marble floors, so it would have looked a bit fancier at the time.
You would have entered into an entry room (3), with a lovely mosaic floor.
Not much of it survives, but it would have been nice.
Next you head into the peristyle (4), a porticoed room, with a garden in the center. During Ancient Roman times, this would have been one of the most important rooms in the house. It connected most of the smaller rooms together and it served as an outdoor living space in the warmer months.
The peristyle is also where we really start seeing some the mosaics Villa Armerina is famous for. Luckily, the site is set up so you can walk high above the mosaics, so you can not only preserve them, but also so them better.
Fountain, or altar, maybe? (5), plus amazing mosaic.
Can still make out of little bit of painted wall plaster here.
Can make a bit more of the courtyard decoration here. It would have had marble fountains in the center (6). Today, it is filled in to help preserve the site.
Entrance to the baths (7). I don’t know why I like this mosaic so much.
Nearby, there are a couple of simpler rooms, but I still love the patterns of the mosaics, like this one (8).
There were a number of groups of rooms called “flats,” or “suites.” They are usually a series of rooms ranging from 2 or more rooms dedicated to an individual or couple and their servants and/or slaves. This was the third room of one of those flats (9). The mosaic has images of the four Seasons, fish and birds.
The fourth room (10) has one of the more interesting mosaic scenes in the villa. The background scene is a maritime villa, and the little babies are actually putti, a mythological creature that has a weird V on its forehead. They are on other mosaics here, too. The putti are just doing normal fishing things here. Nothing to worry about. You can also see a bit of the wall decoration in this room, too.
One of the most famous mosaics in the villas is this one, the Little Hunt (11), which shows hunters using dogs and capturing animals.
And then the eventual feast in the middle.
The most famous of the mosaics is the Great Hunt (12). It spans the entire villa. It pictures the capture and transport of exotic animals to the shows in Rome. One guy here is carrying an ostrich and the soldier is not happy with the other guy.
A very, very long mosaic.
Loading up an elephant.
Another room with famous mosaics (13). They feature young female athletes competing the pentathlon.
The Ovoid Peristyle would have been a fancy outdoor entertaining area (14). The end would have been covered and each of the niches would have had fountains.
Some of the mosaic flooring still survives.
Next, we head into in the master’s apartment (15). This is the possibly the bedroom or the study. Those putti make another appearance here.
More putti, this time driving chariots in a race, being pulled by various forms of birds. Ah…those putti (16).
The Hall of Arion (17) was a private room that could have been used as a family living room, for family meals or as a personal study and library. The room could have also been used as a place to hang out with close friends or associates. Lots of sea creates in this one.
A little semi-circular portico (18) that connected the rooms of the master’s apartments. Would have brought in some cool air and a nice fountain.
The putti return again, still fishing.
This room was most likely a bedroom (19). The walls would have had been painted, with the lower level had marble paneling. Very fancy.
This time, there are some lady putti in the alcove.
The basilica would have been a finely decorated hall for meeting clients, clad mostly in marble. Much of the marble has been lost.
Another famous mosaic is that of Ulysses and Polyphemus (20). This room may have been part of a suite of rooms for important guests of the master of the villa and served as an antechamber.
The bedroom of the guest suite (21). It has an, um, interesting center mosaic.
The villa and its “town” continued to be used well into the 5th and 6th centuries when the area was fortified. The villa was damaged during the Vandal invasion of the late 5th century. The mosaics were saved for posterity by a miraculous mudslide that covered them up. The same mudslide in the 12th century also caused the local inhabitants to move to the current town of Piazza Armerina.
The Villa Romana del Casale, near Villa Armerina, Sicily, is an amazing excursion away in the Enna region. The weather was horrible when I was there, however, I need to go back and explore more of the area. First, there is the nearby ruins of Morgantina and the town of Piazza Armerina. There is the town of Enna. It is adorable when you can see it through the fog and plenty of other sights in the area of central Sicily. It’s a must see!
Check out my next update where I explore the great Sicilian city of Palermo!
Or
Check out this awesome Roman villa near Naples, Italy!
