{"id":1151,"date":"2022-02-10T06:50:46","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T05:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.turismoaidone.it\/roman-villa-of-casale\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T21:15:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T19:15:39","slug":"roman-villa-of-casale","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.turismoaidone.it\/en\/roman-villa-of-casale\/","title":{"rendered":"Roman Villa of Casale"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-1151\" data-postid=\"1151\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-1151 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n                    <div  data-css_id=\"yat6305\" data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row fullwidth tb_yat6305 tb_first tf_w\">\n                        <div class=\"row_inner col_align_top tb_col_count_1 tf_box tf_rel\">\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col-full tb_srl0306 first\">\n                    <!-- module video -->\n<div  class=\"module module-video tb_a6ro584 video-top video21 video-autoplay\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n                    <div class=\"video-wrap-outer\">\n            <div class=\"video-wrap tf_rel tf_overflow tf_local_video\">\n                \n                    \n                    <div style=\"width: 640px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-1151-1\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" autoplay preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/www.turismoaidone.it\/\/video\/villa_romana_del_casale_ambienti.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.turismoaidone.it\/\/video\/villa_romana_del_casale_ambienti.mp4\">https:\/\/www.turismoaidone.it\/\/video\/villa_romana_del_casale_ambienti.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n                    \n                                <\/div>\n            <!-- \/video-wrap -->\n        <\/div>\n        <!-- \/video-wrap-outer -->\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n                        <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_n12e175 tf_w\">\n                        <div class=\"row_inner col_align_top tb_col_count_1 tf_box tf_rel\">\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col-full tb_edhd176 first\">\n                    <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_i1eb204   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h3>Roman Villa of Casale<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">The discovery of the Roman Villa, located in Casale in Piazza Armerina, constitutes the most important archaeological discovery of recent years.<br>Its immense value as an art historical document is due mainly to the more than 40 polychrome mosaic floors, arranged over a surface area of \u200b\u200bover 3,500 m2, which represent a complex unmatched in any other archaeological site in the Roman world in terms of the number and size of the floors, the importance of the representations, and the high level of artistic value.<br>The Roman structure, dating back to the late imperial period, due to its exceptional wealth of architectural and decorative elements, has become an object of particular importance within the program for the protection and enhancement of the Sicilian region&#8217;s heritage, whose management is now entrusted to the Archaeological Park of the Villa Romana del Casale and the archaeological areas of Piazza Armerina and surrounding municipalities, Institute of the Regional Administration of Cultural Heritage.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">The Villa, protected by UNESCO since 1997, belonged to a member of the Roman senatorial aristocracy, perhaps a governor of Rome (Praefectus Urbi); according to some scholars, however, it was built and expanded under direct imperial commission. The majesty and decorative magnificence of the residence immediately suggested an owner of exceptional importance, and this question has ended up fascinating illustrious scholars, to the point of absorbing the more scientifically important question of dating. <br>Given that the only buildings of such grandeur known at the time of the discovery belonged to emperors (Diocletian&#8217;s Palace in Split, Hadrian&#8217;s Villa in Tivoli, etc.), it was immediately thought of as an imperial villa, and it was L&#8217;Orange, immediately followed by Gentili, who proposed the name of Maximianus Herculeus, Diocletian&#8217;s colleague in the tetrarchy of the empire with the task of administering Italy; it is he who built the villa after 293 and settled there after 305, when Diocletian forced him to abdicate, until he attempted to retake the empire.<br>Due to its beauty and complexity, it can be considered one of the most significant examples of a stately home compared to other contemporary buildings in Western Rome. The high profile of its patron is eloquently celebrated through an iconographic program, stylistically influenced by African culture, which unfolds, with compositional richness, across a multitude of public and private spaces. <br><br>Until the beginning of the last century, the existence of the villa was only attested by the imposing ruins emerging from the surface and local memories. After an initial survey by Sabatino del Muto (1812) and a second by the engineer L. Pappalardo (1881), a first excavation campaign was conducted in 1929 by Paolo Orsi, who discovered the first mosaic (the Labours of Hercules), and a second, conducted in various stages from 1935 to 1939 by Giuseppe Cultrera, under the high patronage of Biagio Pace, brought to light the entire triclinium with the elliptical portico in front. But only in the post-war period (1950-54), under the direction of Gino Vinicio Gentili and with funds first from the Sicilian region and then from the Cassa del Mezzogiorno, was an excavation campaign begun which brought to light the entire noble part of a grandiose Roman villa from the imperial age with its marvellous mosaic floors, which constitute a unique artistic monument in the world.<br> In the 1970s, the mosaics discovered had to be restored and protected from the danger of crumbling, implementing the original roofing system designed by architect Franco Minissi. However, the excavation cannot be considered complete, as the villa&#8217;s outbuildings, still buried nearby, remain uncovered. In recent years, an excavation campaign has been underway in the southern area, led by the Sapienza University of Rome, led by Professor Patrizio Pensabene, which has revealed an ancient medieval settlement.     <\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->        <\/div>\n                        <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content--><p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Roman Villa of Casale The discovery of the Roman Villa, located in Casale in Piazza Armerina, constitutes the most important archaeological discovery of recent years.Its immense value as an art historical document is due mainly to the more than 40 polychrome mosaic floors, arranged over a surface area of \u200b\u200bover 3,500 m2, which represent a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1151","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"builder_content":"[embed]https:\/\/www.turismoaidone.it\/\/video\/villa_romana_del_casale_ambienti.mp4[\/embed]\n<h3>Roman Villa of Casale<\/h3> <p style=\"text-align: justify\">The discovery of the Roman Villa, located in Casale in Piazza Armerina, constitutes the most important archaeological discovery of recent years.<br>Its immense value as an art historical document is due mainly to the more than 40 polychrome mosaic floors, arranged over a surface area of \u200b\u200bover 3,500 m2, which represent a complex unmatched in any other archaeological site in the Roman world in terms of the number and size of the floors, the importance of the representations, and the high level of artistic value.<br>The Roman structure, dating back to the late imperial period, due to its exceptional wealth of architectural and decorative elements, has become an object of particular importance within the program for the protection and enhancement of the Sicilian region's heritage, whose management is now entrusted to the Archaeological Park of the Villa Romana del Casale and the archaeological areas of Piazza Armerina and surrounding municipalities, Institute of the Regional Administration of Cultural Heritage.<\/p> <p style=\"text-align: justify\">The Villa, protected by UNESCO since 1997, belonged to a member of the Roman senatorial aristocracy, perhaps a governor of Rome (Praefectus Urbi); according to some scholars, however, it was built and expanded under direct imperial commission. The majesty and decorative magnificence of the residence immediately suggested an owner of exceptional importance, and this question has ended up fascinating illustrious scholars, to the point of absorbing the more scientifically important question of dating. <br>Given that the only buildings of such grandeur known at the time of the discovery belonged to emperors (Diocletian's Palace in Split, Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli, etc.), it was immediately thought of as an imperial villa, and it was L'Orange, immediately followed by Gentili, who proposed the name of Maximianus Herculeus, Diocletian's colleague in the tetrarchy of the empire with the task of administering Italy; it is he who built the villa after 293 and settled there after 305, when Diocletian forced him to abdicate, until he attempted to retake the empire.<br>Due to its beauty and complexity, it can be considered one of the most significant examples of a stately home compared to other contemporary buildings in Western Rome. The high profile of its patron is eloquently celebrated through an iconographic program, stylistically influenced by African culture, which unfolds, with compositional richness, across a multitude of public and private spaces. <br><br>Until the beginning of the last century, the existence of the villa was only attested by the imposing ruins emerging from the surface and local memories. After an initial survey by Sabatino del Muto (1812) and a second by the engineer L. Pappalardo (1881), a first excavation campaign was conducted in 1929 by Paolo Orsi, who discovered the first mosaic (the Labours of Hercules), and a second, conducted in various stages from 1935 to 1939 by Giuseppe Cultrera, under the high patronage of Biagio Pace, brought to light the entire triclinium with the elliptical portico in front. But only in the post-war period (1950-54), under the direction of Gino Vinicio Gentili and with funds first from the Sicilian region and then from the Cassa del Mezzogiorno, was an excavation campaign begun which brought to light the entire noble part of a grandiose Roman villa from the imperial age with its marvellous mosaic floors, which constitute a unique artistic monument in the world.<br> In the 1970s, the mosaics discovered had to be restored and protected from the danger of crumbling, implementing the original roofing system designed by architect Franco Minissi. However, the excavation cannot be considered complete, as the villa's outbuildings, still buried nearby, remain uncovered. In recent years, an excavation campaign has been underway in the southern area, led by the Sapienza University of Rome, led by Professor Patrizio Pensabene, which has revealed an ancient medieval settlement. <\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turismoaidone.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turismoaidone.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turismoaidone.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turismoaidone.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turismoaidone.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1151"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.turismoaidone.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1166,"href":"https:\/\/www.turismoaidone.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1151\/revisions\/1166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turismoaidone.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}