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/

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

A dignified setting dedicated to the myth of Arion

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

An official ceremony to welcome the Dominus

A small room used as a privileged entrance to the baths

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

The Peristyle of the Villa

A decoration that marks time

The senses tell the Tri-Apsed Triclinium

The senses tell the Quadrangular Peristyle

The public rooms of the Villa

A room dedicated to the sea

An eloquent symbol: the signum

The senses tell the frigidarium

Criteria for including Piazza Armerina in the WHL

A view of the race from the imperial gallery

Date Clues

The layout of the rooms

The Mansio, a stopping place

The protagonists of the mosaics

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

The mosaics of the late antiquity residence

The myth of Orpheus

The composition of the spaces

The capture of wild animals for the roman amphitheatre games

The Latifundium

The Mansio of Sophiana

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

The senses tell the Bi-Apsed room

The catalogue of animals

Outdoor breakfast

The room of the seasons

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

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

The senses tell the Vestibule

An organic microcosm: the structure of the villa

Solemn and majestic architecture to welcome a high-ranking commissioner

An individual who has attracted the attention of scholars

The main nuclei of the Domus

Semi-public rooms

The Latifundium

The possible celebration of a solemn event

The senses tell the massage room

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

The astral interpretation of the mosaic

A dialogue between mythological and realistic scenes

The apotheosis of Hercules

A royal room housed the Dominus during his audiences

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

The protagonists of the mosaic and the military themed frescoes

A hidden meaning

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

A day of hunting at the villa

The mansio of Philosophiana. A stopping place

The public and private rooms of the villa

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

The senses tell the monumental entrance

Worship of the Lares

A line of armed men for an important Dominus

The senses tell the Basilica

The paths of virus, a reflection of the Dominus

The senses tell the Sacellum of the Lares

A large banquet hall

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

Pars Fructuaria e Pars Rustica

The prestige of the dominus is revealed through the wall frescoes

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

The rural sacrifice

The senses tell the private entrance to the spa

A small room embellished with marble

Form of greeting or ritual?