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Mildly erotic
Some of the mosaics are mildly eroticMosaics en masse
In the 4th century CE a large and elaborate Roman Villa,
Villa Romana del Casale, was built in central Sicily. It is a bit surprising that they built it in central Sicily and not somewhere else. Today it is relatively easy to reach the site, thanks to modern roads and cars. But since it is quite far from the coast it still feels like a remote location. The closest town is Piazza Armerina which no more than maybe 21,000 people call home. Also in the fourth century there was some kind of settlement there but I guess this place must have been quite far away from everything. So why would anyone build a magnificent villa in the middle of nowhere? Was it a recluse who built it? One can only guess.
The villa is massively large and richly decorated with mosaics. Still little is known about the original owner of the villa. Scholars have a few different ideas about what kind of function in the Roman Empire a person might have being able to build such a large villa. An emperor, a senator, something else. Since they haven't been able to figure out how high
Room of the Gymnasts
In one room the mosaics have pictures of 10 young women wearing what looks like bikinis doing various kinds of sports up in the hierarchy the owner was they for obvious reasons can't even begin to guess that person's name.
It is believed that the villa was inhabited for well over a century. After that it was probably used for other purposes than the luxury living quarter that it was meant to be. Over the centuries the villa became more and more run down. Its end came in the 12th century when a landslide destroyed the buildings and covered it with soil.
Even though Villa Romana del Casale was destroyed by the landslide, ironically that landslide at the same time preserved it. The remains of the villa were buried under a layer of soil and was largely forgotten, or at least ignored, for several centuries. In the 20th century archaeologists started to excavate the site. They found that the extensive mosaics that covered most of the floor area of the villa were largely intact under the soil. When the floors of the villa were uncovered what they found was some of the best preserved Roman era mosaics in the world. Not only were they in good condition, there were also many of them.
The Great Hunt
The Great Hunt is a long series of mosaics that depict scenes where wild exotic animals are caught alive and forced onto waggons or on board ships. In 1997 the importance of Villa Romana del Casale was recognised by UNESCO when they decided to include the site in the world heritage list.
Pretty much every room had its floors covered with mosaics. The ones that I found most interesting are the following:
Room of the Gymnasts: In one room the mosaics have pictures of 10 young women wearing what looks like bikinis doing various kinds of sports. Two of them seem to be running, two of them play a ball game and one actually seems to be holding small dumbbells.
The Great Hunt: A long series of mosaics that depict scenes where wild exotic animals are caught alive and forced onto waggons or on board ships. Strictly these are not hunting scenes, since the animals are caught alive instead of killed. Most likely the animals were taken to Colosseum in Rome or some other large amphitheatre to be killed as entertainment.
Other mosaics depict fishing scenes, wild animals devouring pray, some mildly erotic pictures and scenes that to some extent must be regarded as fantasies.
Other than the mosaics, there is very little left of
Hunter
This might be a hunter degutting an animal the villa. It is necessary to have good imagination to be able to picture what it once might have looked like. But to me that doesn't really matter. I went there to see the mosaics and they were absolutely spectacular.
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Incredible!
Although I have been to Sicily, I do not remember hearing about the Villa Romana del Casale. Thank you for bringing it to light for me! The mosaics are incredible, so I appreciate your photos and the information you have given us here!