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 astral interpretation of the mosaic

Criteria for including Piazza Armerina in the WHL

The layout of the rooms

An individual who has attracted the attention of scholars

The room of the seasons

Worship of the Lares

The mansio of Philosophiana. A stopping place

The public rooms of the Villa

The mosaics of the late antiquity residence

The prestige of the dominus is revealed through the wall frescoes

An organic microcosm: the structure of the villa

Outdoor breakfast

The senses tell the frigidarium

The senses tell the Vestibule

The possible celebration of a solemn event

A decoration that marks time

A room dedicated to the sea

The senses tell the Quadrangular Peristyle

Date Clues

Form of greeting or ritual?

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

The senses tell the Tri-Apsed Triclinium

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

The paths of virus, a reflection of the Dominus

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

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

The apotheosis of Hercules

A small room used as a privileged entrance to the baths

The rural sacrifice

A small room embellished with marble

The senses tell the massage room

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

The public and private rooms of the villa

The senses tell the Bi-Apsed room

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

An official ceremony to welcome the Dominus

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

The capture of wild animals for the roman amphitheatre games

The protagonists of the mosaic and the military themed frescoes

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

The main nuclei of the Domus

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

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

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

An eloquent symbol: the signum

The senses tell the Basilica

A day of hunting at the villa

The catalogue of animals

The composition of the spaces

The Latifundium

Pars Fructuaria e Pars Rustica

A dialogue between mythological and realistic scenes

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

A hidden meaning

A royal room housed the Dominus during his audiences

The Latifundium

A large banquet hall

Semi-public rooms

A dignified setting dedicated to the myth of Arion

A view of the race from the imperial gallery

A line of armed men for an important Dominus

The Peristyle of the Villa

The Mansio, a stopping place

The myth of Orpheus

The senses tell the monumental entrance

The senses tell the Sacellum of the Lares

The Mansio of Sophiana

The senses tell the private entrance to the spa

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

The protagonists of the mosaics

Solemn and majestic architecture to welcome a high-ranking commissioner