Private entrance to the baths

A small room used as a privileged entrance to the baths

Smaller than other rooms of the Villa del Casale, the room is irregular in shape and located on the private path, north of the peristyle. The trapezoidal shape of the room, which has brickwork benches along the walls, suggests its use as a vestibule, waiting room or apodyterium .
The reading of the floor mosaic in which a richly dressed female figure stands out in the centre, accompanied by handmaidens and two male figures with flowing blonde hair, leads us to think of the representation of the domina as she prepares to enter the baths.Two objects stand out in the irregular corner of the background: a kantharos with a ribbed belly and a wooden throne, a cathedra, associated with individuals of particular standing.
A further clue to the exclusive and official use of the small space by the dominus and members of his family can be seen on the frescoed plaster of the walls, where we can still see the base of a geometric division with large coloured rectangles imitating a marble inlay.

The astral interpretation of the mosaic

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

The apotheosis of Hercules

The senses tell the Quadrangular Peristyle

The possible celebration of a solemn event

The senses tell the Tri-Apsed Triclinium

Semi-public rooms

Worship of the Lares

An organic microcosm: the structure of the villa

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

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

The senses tell the Sacellum of the Lares

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

A royal room housed the Dominus during his audiences

The senses tell the massage room

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

A dialogue between mythological and realistic scenes

The main nuclei of the Domus

The capture of wild animals for the roman amphitheatre games

The Latifundium

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

A line of armed men for an important Dominus

A day of hunting at the villa

The rural sacrifice

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

A small room used as a privileged entrance to the baths

The protagonists of the mosaic and the military themed frescoes

The senses tell the private entrance to the spa

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

The public and private rooms of the villa

The senses tell the Vestibule

The senses tell the Bi-Apsed room

A hidden meaning

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

The senses tell the monumental entrance

The mansio of Philosophiana. A stopping place

The protagonists of the mosaics

Form of greeting or ritual?

An individual who has attracted the attention of scholars

The senses tell the Basilica

An official ceremony to welcome the Dominus

The senses tell the frigidarium

The paths of virus, a reflection of the Dominus

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

A view of the race from the imperial gallery

Solemn and majestic architecture to welcome a high-ranking commissioner

The catalogue of animals

An eloquent symbol: the signum

The prestige of the dominus is revealed through the wall frescoes

A small room embellished with marble

Outdoor breakfast

The mosaics of the late antiquity residence