Villa Romana del Casale

Villa Romana del Casale
A captive tigress in the big game hunt mosaic
Villa Romana del Casale is located in Italy
Villa Romana del Casale
Shown within Italy
LocationPiazza Armerina, Province of Enna, Sicily, Italy
Coordinates37°21′53″N 14°20′05″E / 37.36472°N 14.33472°E / 37.36472; 14.33472
TypeRoman villa
Area8.92 ha (22.0 acres)
History
FoundedFirst quarter of the 4th century
Abandoned12th century AD
PeriodsLate Antiquity to High Middle Ages
CulturesRoman
Site notes
ArchaeologistsPaolo Orsi, Giuseppe Cultrera, Gino Vinicio Gentili, Andrea Carandini
OwnershipPublic
Websitewww.villaromanadelcasale.it
Official nameVilla Romana del Casale
TypeCultural
Criteriai, ii, iii
Designated1997 (21st session)
Reference no.832
RegionEurope

The Villa Romana del Casale (Sicilian: Villa Rumana dû Casali) is a large and elaborate Roman villa or palace located about 3 km from the town of Piazza Armerina, Sicily. Excavations have revealed Roman mosaics which, according to the Grove Dictionary of Art, are the richest, largest and most varied collection that remains,[1] for which the site was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.[2] The villa and its artwork date to the early 4th century AD.

The mosaic and opus sectile floors cover some 3,500 m2 and are almost unique in their excellent state of preservation due to the landslide and floods that covered the remains.[3]

Although less well-known, an extraordinary collection of frescoes covered not only the interior rooms, but also the exterior walls.

  1. ^ R. J. A. Wilson: Piazza Armerina. In: Akiyama, Terakazu (Ed.): The Dictionary of Art. Vol. 24: Pandolfini to Pitti. Oxford 1998, ISBN 0-19-517068-7.
  2. ^ "World Heritage Site". Archived from the original on 15 January 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
  3. ^ Unesco, "Advisory Body Evaluation (ICOMOS)", 1997