Villa Romana del Casale

Villa Romana del Casale
	A captive tigress in the big game hunt mosaic
	Shown within Italy
Location	Piazza Armerina, Province of Enna, Sicily, Italy
Coordinates	37°21′53″N 14°20′05″E / 37.36472°N 14.33472°E
Type	Roman villa
Area	8.92 ha (22.0 acres)
History
Founded	First quarter of the 4th century
Abandoned	12th century AD
Periods	Late Antiquity to High Middle Ages
Cultures	Roman
Site notes
Archaeologists	Paolo Orsi, Giuseppe Cultrera, Gino Vinicio Gentili, Andrea Carandini
Ownership	Public
Website	www.villaromanadelcasale.it
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Villa Romana del Casale
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iii
Designated	1997 (21st session)
Reference no.	832
Region	Europe

The Villa Romana del Casale (Sicilian: Villa Rumana dû Casali) is a large and elaborate Roman villa or palace located about 3 km from the town of Piazza Armerina, Sicily. Excavations have revealed Roman mosaics which, according to the Grove Dictionary of Art, are the richest, largest and most varied collection that remains,^[1] for which the site was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.^[2] The villa and its artwork date to the early 4th century AD.

The mosaic and opus sectile floors cover some 3,500 m² and are almost unique in their excellent state of preservation due to the landslide and floods that covered the remains.^[3]

Although less well-known, an extraordinary collection of frescoes covered not only the interior rooms, but also the exterior walls.

^ R. J. A. Wilson: Piazza Armerina. In: Akiyama, Terakazu (Ed.): The Dictionary of Art. Vol. 24: Pandolfini to Pitti. Oxford 1998, ISBN 0-19-517068-7.
^ "World Heritage Site". Archived from the original on 15 January 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
^ Unesco, "Advisory Body Evaluation (ICOMOS)", 1997

[Wilson-1] R. J. A. Wilson: Piazza Armerina. In: Akiyama, Terakazu (Ed.): The Dictionary of Art. Vol. 24: Pandolfini to Pitti. Oxford 1998, ISBN 0-19-517068-7.

[2] "World Heritage Site". Archived from the original on 15 January 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-15.

[3] Unesco, "Advisory Body Evaluation (ICOMOS)", 1997

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