Sicily

Villa del Casale

A few kilometers far from the center of Piazza Armerina, the Roman villa of Casale is a splendid villa rich of many polychrome pavements of mosaics, registered to the world heritage of UNESCO. The Roman villa would date from the beginning of the IVth century, in the reign of Diocletian and Maximian.
It is very vast (more than 3500 m^2) and is almost entirely paved with mosaics.

mosaic in the roman villa del Casale

The villa was occupied until to the Middle Ages, then destroyed by the Normans in the XIIth. The same century, a landslide recovered it under several meters of ground. It remained then more than seven century under the ground ! Thus protected from the plunderers and the bad weather.
Only in the XVIIIth century, were the first attempts of excavations, unfruitful. They really began after the second world war.

See also :

• Photos from the Roman Villa del Casale
• Map of the villa

Piazza Armerina
Villa del Casale Map Photos
Hotels in Piazza Armerina