Villa Romana del Casale
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How it came to be
This villa near Piazza Armerina in Sicily was built in the first quarter of the 4th century AD over the remains of an older villa rustica. It was the centre of a large estate, but its owner is unknown. Tetrarchic military insignia have led some scholars to suggest an emperor such as Maximian, while others see it as the estate of a senatorial aristocrat.
The villa was damaged, perhaps destroyed, during the Vandal invasion and rule between 469 and 478, though its outbuildings stayed at least partly in use through the Byzantine and Arab periods. The settlement was destroyed in 1160–61 in the reign of William I of Sicily. After a landslide buried the villa in the 12th century, the survivors moved to present-day Piazza Armerina and the site was almost forgotten.
Fragments of mosaic and some columns turned up early in the 19th century, and Paolo Orsi made the first professional excavations in 1929. Gino Vinicio Gentili led large campaigns from 1950 to 1960, finding in 1959–60 a mosaic of women athletes in two-piece outfits that closely resemble modern swimsuits. The mosaic and opus sectile floors cover about 3,500 square metres, and the villa was inscribed in 1997.
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