WHL

Criteria for including Piazza Armerina in the WHL

Roman exploitation of the countryside is symbolised by the Villa Romana del Casale (Sicily), the centre of the large estate upon which the rural economy of the Western Empire was based. The villa is one of the most luxurious of its kind. It is especially noteworthy for the richness and quality of the mosaics which decorate almost every room; they are the finest mosaics in situ anywhere in the Roman world
The UNESCO Committee decided to inscribe this property on the basis of criteria (i), (ii) and (iii), considering that the Villa del Casale in Piazza Armerina is the supreme example of a luxury Roman villa, which graphically expresses the predominant social and economic structure of its age. The mosaics that decorate it are exceptional for their artistic quality and invention as well as for their extent.

Source: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/832/

The apotheosis of Hercules

The senses tell the private entrance to the spa

The senses tell the room in the private apartment known as “small hunt”

A room dedicated to the sea

The composition of the spaces

The astral interpretation of the mosaic

The golden age: hypotheses about the villa’s period of construction and clues

An eloquent symbol: the signum

The possible celebration of a solemn event

An organic microcosm: the structure of the villa

The Latifundium

A small room used as a privileged entrance to the baths

A day of hunting at the villa

An individual who has attracted the attention of scholars

The Mansio of Sophiana

The realistic depiction of a spa procession with a high-ranking female figure

The prestige of the dominus is revealed through the wall frescoes

The main nuclei of the Domus

The public and private rooms of the villa

Worship of the Lares

High-ranking characters depicted in the mosaics of the apsidal niches of the frigidarium

Form of greeting or ritual?

A decoration that marks time

Solemn and majestic architecture to welcome a high-ranking commissioner

The mosaics of the late antiquity residence

Pars Fructuaria e Pars Rustica

Semi-public rooms

A small room embellished with marble

A royal room housed the Dominus during his audiences

The late antiquity residence: locus amoenus and centre of administrative activities in the heart of Sicily

The marble from the regions of the empire to decorate the basilica

A small room represents one of the activities of the thermal bath route

The rural sacrifice

A line of armed men for an important Dominus

The layout of the rooms

A large banquet hall

The capture of wild animals for the roman amphitheatre games

The Mansio, a stopping place

The senses tell the Bi-Apsed room

A dignified setting dedicated to the myth of Arion

The senses tell the Vestibule

The room of the seasons

The senses tell the Basilica

The mansio of Philosophiana. A stopping place

An official ceremony to welcome the Dominus

A dialogue between mythological and realistic scenes

A chariot race, set in the circus Maximus of Rome, connects the villa to the city and centre of power

The catalogue of animals

The senses tell the frigidarium

The senses tell the Sacellum of the Lares

The Peristyle of the Villa

The senses tell the monumental entrance

Criteria for including Piazza Armerina in the WHL

Outdoor breakfast

The public rooms of the Villa

The myth of Orpheus

A large colonnaded portico, a place of connection between the rooms

The paths of virus, a reflection of the Dominus

Banquets and panegyrics enlivened the vast hall, against the background of a floor mosaic celebrating the feats of Hercules

A view of the race from the imperial gallery

The senses tell the massage room

Date Clues

The senses tell the Quadrangular Peristyle

Auspicious symbols and perhaps the initials of the commissioner’s name decorate the mosaic of the apsidal room

Is the profile of the dominus hidden among the scenes depicted in the mosaics?

The protagonists of the mosaics

The senses tell the Tri-Apsed Triclinium

The senses tell the bi-apsed ambulatory – Corridor of the “Great Hunt”

The Latifundium

The protagonists of the mosaic and the military themed frescoes

A hidden meaning