Monumental entrance

The prestige of the dominus is revealed through the wall frescoes

The still legible iconographic programme deals with military themes brought to light thanks to recent restorations .
On the plaster of the pillars flanking the side entrances are large rectangular paintings, two to the east and two to the west, which show traces of life-size figures. Among them are four narrower rectangular surfaces, in each of which a signum is painted, a military element carried by the centuriae in battle. The best preserved is the one located to the east, next to the right-hand fornix , and is distinguished by the presence of imagines, portraits inserted in a round frame, used for political or imperial propaganda.
The military theme is repeated on the frescoes that decorate the eastern wall of the square, animated by the residual colours of a procession of trotting knights, heading towards the figures at the entrance.

The possible celebration of a solemn event

The capture of wild animals for the roman amphitheatre games

The senses tell the Tri-Apsed Triclinium

An individual who has attracted the attention of scholars

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

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

The protagonists of the mosaic and the military themed frescoes

Solemn and majestic architecture to welcome a high-ranking commissioner

The senses tell the monumental entrance

An organic microcosm: the structure of the villa

A royal room housed the Dominus during his audiences

A line of armed men for an important Dominus

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

The senses tell the Bi-Apsed room

Worship of the Lares

The Latifundium

The paths of virus, a reflection of the Dominus

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

Semi-public rooms

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

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

The catalogue of animals

The senses tell the Vestibule

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

The senses tell the Quadrangular Peristyle

The main nuclei of the Domus

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 senses tell the private entrance to the spa

An official ceremony to welcome the Dominus

The senses tell the Sacellum of the Lares

The rural sacrifice

The senses tell the massage room

A small room used as a privileged entrance to the baths

The senses tell the frigidarium

A dialogue between mythological and realistic scenes

The public and private rooms of the villa

The mansio of Philosophiana. A stopping place

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

A small room embellished with marble

The astral interpretation of the mosaic

Outdoor breakfast

The apotheosis of Hercules

Form of greeting or ritual?

An eloquent symbol: the signum

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

The prestige of the dominus is revealed through the wall frescoes

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

The protagonists of the mosaics

A hidden meaning

The mosaics of the late antiquity residence

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

A day of hunting at the villa

The senses tell the Basilica

A view of the race from the imperial gallery