Villa Romana del Casale

A few kilometres from the centre of Piazza Armerina, the Villa Romana del Casale (“Villa Romana del Casale” in Italian) is a sumptuous ancient residence, renowned for the exceptional extent of its carpet of polychrome mosaics. Among the best preserved of their kind, beyond their beauty and variety, these mosaics are also a precious testimony to the social organisation, economy and daily life of the Romans. They constitute an artistic jewel unique in the world, and the villa is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

History of the villa and the excavations

The Roman villa of Casale dates from around the 4th century AD. It probably belonged to a powerful aristocratic family of Rome, perhaps to a governor. It is very vast with more than 3500 m² of surface area, almost entirely paved with splendid mosaics illustrating myths or the life of the era.
Two aqueducts served to supply the fountains and the baths of the establishment. Researchers believe that the villa was not isolated, and that other structures located in the surroundings met its needs. This is why excavation campaigns are regularly organised.

The building remained occupied until the Middle Ages, until the 12th century when the Normans damaged it and a landslide covered it with several metres of earth. During the seven centuries that followed it remained thus underground, protected from looters and bad weather.
It was in the 18th century that the first attempts at excavations began with difficulty, ultimately unsuccessful. Excavations resumed after the Second World War.

The ground was brought to light in the middle of the 20th century, when numerous remains such as columns, statues or coins were also found. Major restoration works were completed in 2012.

Overview of the villa and its mosaics

The villa is divided into several areas:

• The monumental entrance with a courtyard
• The central body of the villa built around a courtyard with a garden and the basilica
• A complex around a vast hall with three apses preceded by a colonnade
• The thermal complex
• A part dedicated to representations with a peristyle

The visit allows you to discover the baths, the entrance courtyard with the porticoes and the triumphal arch, the vestibule and the portico of the peristyle, and numerous rooms.
The style of the mosaics reveals obvious influences of African art, which suggests the participation of African craftsmen in their creation. One finds there different styles and narrative cycles: mythology and Homeric poems, scenes of nature, of flora and faithfully represented animals, or scenes of daily life of the Roman aristocracy.

Among the rooms of the town, let us mention the Room of the Small Hunt, the corridor of the Great Hunt with scenes of capturing wild animals, the Room of the Dancers, or that of the bikinis where young women doing sport dressed in bikinis are represented, including the ball players.
In the north-side apartments one discovers the mosaic of Ulysses with the animals and monsters of his 12 labours, including Polyphemus, the chamber with Cupid and Psyche, and in the south-side apartments is found the mosaic with the myth of Arion, the chamber of Eros and Pan, the triclinium and the basilica, etc.
One room represents a famous erotic scene.

→ See also the visit and the mosaics of the Villa del Casale

External sites

• Official site: www.villaromanadelcasale.it, all prices: www.villaromanadelcasale.it
• Wikipedia page
• Tourist sites and blogs: www.italia.it, www.piazzaarmerina.org, National Geographic article, details of the rooms on lasiciliainrete.it
• PDF tourist guide: www.villaromanadelcasale.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/guida_042012_FRA.pdf

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