UNESCO World Heritage | Piazza Armerina, Sicily
Guide to Villa Romana del Casale
Opening hours, tickets, how to get there and what to see. Discover the most beautiful mosaics of the Roman world with our interactive guide.
The Most Beautiful Mosaic Villa in the World
Villa Romana del Casale, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997, stands at the foot of Mount Mangone, a few kilometres from Piazza Armerina in the heart of Sicily. Built around 320 AD as the centre of a vast estate, it preserves over 3,500 m² of floor mosaics across 48 rooms, the richest, largest and most complex collection in the entire Roman world.
The mosaics, almost certainly created by North African artists, bear witness to the habits of the Roman ruling class and cultural exchanges across the ancient Mediterranean. Each room tells stories of daily life, mythology, hunting and nature with extraordinary vividness and realism.
Buried by a landslide in the 12th century, the villa was forgotten for centuries. That very covering preserved the mosaic treasure intact until its rediscovery in the 20th century.
Discover the full history of the Villa →3.500
m² of mosaics
48
decorated rooms
350K
visitors/year
1.700
years of history
Life in the Villa
A Day in the 4th Century
The ancient visitor entered through the monumental gate, a triumphal arch with three openings, fountains and frescoes, a symbol of the owner's power. In the atrium, they waited under the colonnade until admitted to the peristyle.
Only the most important guests could ascend to the magnificent Great Hunt corridor, where they admired scenes of exotic animal capture. Very few chosen ones reached the Basilica to meet the dominus in person, seated on a porphyry throne in the villa's richest room.
The baths, also open to the public, were the place of socialisation: from the octagonal frigidarium with its marine procession to the heated caldaria. The triclinium was reserved for exclusive banquets, surrounded by mosaics of the Labours of Hercules.
What to See →
Must-See Mosaics
Opening hours, tickets, how to get there and what to see. Discover the most beautiful mosaics of the Roman world with our interactive guide.
The Bikini Girls
The world's most famous mosaic: ten young female athletes in two-piece costumes, engaged in sporting activities.
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The Great Hunt
A 60-metre corridor with breathtaking scenes of exotic animal captures destined for circus games.
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Triclinium Hall
The imperial dining hall with the twelve labours of Hercules and the Gigantomachy.
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