Quadrangular Peristyle

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

The large colonnaded portico connects the rooms in the central nucleus of the late antiquity residence, enriched in the centre by an open-air courtyard and a fountain with three pools. This vast space, embellished with mosaic decoration populated by protomes of wild animals, was enlivened daily by a continuous passage of people heading north towards the private and administrative areas or south, to reach the places of reception laid out along the public path.Family members, servants, handmaids, guests and people who were to receive an audience from the dominus walked, in every season, along the long corridor enriched by functional and scenic architecture bordered by marble slabs with dolphin motifs that flanked a number of entrances to the courtyard and by thirty-two evenly spaced columns.Above them there was a long marble architrave supporting sloping roofs, probably interrupted by an arch in the centre of the eastern colonnade which opened the passage to the transit area above and the basilica.

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

An individual who has attracted the attention of scholars

Solemn and majestic architecture to welcome a high-ranking commissioner

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

The senses tell the frigidarium

The catalogue of animals

The senses tell the monumental entrance

Outdoor breakfast

The possible celebration of a solemn event

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

A small room embellished with marble

A dialogue between mythological and realistic scenes

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

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

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”

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

The senses tell the Quadrangular Peristyle

The senses tell the Basilica

An eloquent symbol: the signum

A small room used as a privileged entrance to the baths

An organic microcosm: the structure of the villa

The main nuclei of the Domus

The senses tell the private entrance to the spa

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

Semi-public rooms

The prestige of the dominus is revealed through the wall frescoes

A royal room housed the Dominus during his audiences

Form of greeting or ritual?

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

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

The paths of virus, a reflection of the Dominus

An official ceremony to welcome the Dominus

The apotheosis of Hercules

The rural sacrifice

The astral interpretation of the mosaic

The mansio of Philosophiana. A stopping place

The mosaics of the late antiquity residence

The senses tell the massage room

The senses tell the Tri-Apsed Triclinium

A day of hunting at the villa

The protagonists of the mosaics

The Latifundium

A view of the race from the imperial gallery

Worship of the Lares

A line of armed men for an important Dominus

The senses tell the Sacellum of the Lares

The protagonists of the mosaic and the military themed frescoes

The senses tell the Vestibule

The capture of wild animals for the roman amphitheatre games

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

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

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

A hidden meaning