30 March, 2016

Villa Romani di Casale

Leaving the agritourisme we headed to visit the amazingly well preserved ruins of a Roman Villa. Covering nearly 4000 square meters, this villa was buried in a landslide and the floor mosaics were preserved in time for over 1000 years.

This was a noble villa and is quite large. With a thorough array of rooms preserved, the floor mosaics clearly show the extent and power of the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean, as well as providing a glimpse into the life of the fifth and sixth century. I found it interesting, and also a nice touch, that the buildings constructed to protect the excavated villa are constructed to show what the building would have looked like historically.

The mosaics all illustrated scenes from the far reaches of the Empire, scenes from mythology, and depicted athletic games and hunting parties. I found it to be fascinating to see such remarkably well preserved Roman art. There were even some remnants of frescoes on the walls.

From the villa we went to another hilltop town for lunch before continuing to Ragusa Superiore, our home for the next three nights. This will be the subject of the next post.

Arrivederci!