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

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

The senses tell the private entrance to the spa

The mansio of Philosophiana. A stopping place

The room of the seasons

The apotheosis of Hercules

The astral interpretation of the mosaic

The rural sacrifice

The protagonists of the mosaics

The senses tell the frigidarium

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

The Latifundium

An eloquent symbol: the signum

Form of greeting or ritual?

A view of the race from the imperial gallery

The Mansio, a stopping place

The public rooms of the Villa

The senses tell the Basilica

An individual who has attracted the attention of scholars

The main nuclei of the Domus

A dignified setting dedicated to the myth of Arion

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

The composition of the spaces

Worship of the Lares

Criteria for including Piazza Armerina in the WHL

The senses tell the Quadrangular Peristyle

The senses tell the massage room

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

The senses tell the monumental entrance

A room dedicated to the sea

The catalogue of animals

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

An official ceremony to welcome the Dominus

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

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

The capture of wild animals for the roman amphitheatre games

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

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

Pars Fructuaria e Pars Rustica

The Mansio of Sophiana

An organic microcosm: the structure of the villa

The senses tell the Sacellum of the Lares

A day of hunting at the villa

Solemn and majestic architecture to welcome a high-ranking commissioner

The Latifundium

The Peristyle of the Villa

The possible celebration of a solemn event

Semi-public rooms

A hidden meaning

Outdoor breakfast

A decoration that marks time

The myth of Orpheus

The senses tell the Tri-Apsed Triclinium

The senses tell the Bi-Apsed room

The protagonists of the mosaic and the military themed frescoes

A small room embellished with marble

A line of armed men for an important Dominus

The prestige of the dominus is revealed through the wall frescoes

The paths of virus, a reflection of the Dominus

The layout of the rooms

A royal room housed the Dominus during his audiences

A small room used as a privileged entrance to the baths

Date Clues

The mosaics of the late antiquity residence

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

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

The public and private rooms of the villa

A dialogue between mythological and realistic scenes

A large banquet hall

The senses tell the Vestibule