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Our next highlight is the absolutely amazing Villa
Romana del Casale. Even if you are only moderately interested in mosaics, you
will be impressed by this place.
Sometime between the third and fourth century AD, a
rich Roman, possibly even Emperor Maximianus Herculius, built this magnificent
mansion in the fertile countryside close to the town of Piazza Armerina. The
architecture of the villa is in itself pretty amazing and includes rather
ingeniously designed spas, steam baths, saunas, cold baths, swimming pools, and
latrines in addition to a gymnasium, massage room, fountains, guest rooms,
bedrooms, halls, dining rooms, courtyards and servants’ quarters.
The most truly amazing features, though, are the
mosaics that cover an area of about 3500 square metres. It almost goes without
saying that this villa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The mosaics depict all manner of scenes, from young
girls in bikinis practicing sports to extensive and detailed hunting scenes
showing the types of animals that were captured in India and Africa to be
brought home to the Romans, and from fishermen demonstrating four different
methods of fishing to illustrations of favourite Roman myths.
We are truly
gobsmacked by the high artistic level and the huge extent of it all. The man
who set all this in motion had exquisite taste and must certainly have been
very rich and powerful.
