History of Villa Romana del Casale
From its origins in the heart of Roman Sicily to the archaeological rediscovery of the 20th century: twenty centuries of history in one place.
Villa Romana del Casale, located at the foot of Mount Mangone about 4 km from Piazza Armerina in the heart of Sicily, is one of the most extraordinary testimonies of late-imperial Roman civilisation. Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1997, it represents the supreme example of a luxury Roman villa and preserves the richest, largest and most complex collection of floor mosaics in the ancient world.
The Latifundium and the Villa
In late antiquity, much of the Sicilian hinterland was divided into huge landed estates called latifundia. The size of the villa and the quantity and quality of its decorations indicate that it was the centre of one of these great latifundia, whose owner almost certainly belonged to the senatorial class, if not the imperial family itself.
The villa served multiple functions simultaneously: a permanent or semi-permanent residence of the dominus; a place of representation where the owner received his clients; and the administrative centre of the entire latifundium.
The Eras of the Villa
1st–3rd century AD | The Origins
The first structure was built in the 1st century AD at the foot of Mount Mangone. Few wall remains survive from this phase.
4th century AD | The Golden Age
The period of greatest splendour. Around 320 AD the villa was completely rebuilt with extraordinary mosaic decorations.
5th–8th century | Byzantine Era
The villa suffered damage during the Vandal and Visigoth invasions but remained in use, gradually transforming into a rural village.
9th–13th century | Arab-Norman Period
The villa became a medieval settlement. In the 13th century it was definitively abandoned when a landslide covered the structure.
14th–18th century | The Oblivion
The villa's existence was almost completely forgotten. The mud and debris covering preserved the mosaic apparatus intact.
19th–20th century | The Rediscovery
Major excavation campaigns brought the entire residence to light. In 1997 the Villa was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Who Was the Owner?
Excavations have not identified the owner with certainty. Archaeologist Gentili attributed the villa to Emperor Maximian.
A more recent theory proposes Ceionius Rufius Volusianus, Prefect of Rome and consul.
The Architecture of the Villa
The villa is a single-storey building organised around the large quadrangular peristyle.
The complex develops along three main axes with baths, basilica and triclinium.
The basilica, almost 30 metres long, was the audience hall with polychrome marble opus sectile floors.
The Mosaics: North African Art in Sicily
The mosaics were almost certainly created by North African artists at the beginning of the 4th century AD.
Several teams of mosaicists worked simultaneously, completing everything in less than ten years.
The Villa in Numbers
3.500
m² of mosaics
48
rooms
350.000
visitors/year
1.700
years of history
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