Next stop in Sicily...

Village of Piazza Armerina (my photo)

                               Villa Romana del Casale

Detail of an animal mosaic (turismo in Italia)

Villa Romana del Casale is a large Roman villa, built in approximately 320 AD, (early 4^th century) decorated with intricate mosaics located in the Sicilian countryside. It is believed to be an important statesman's country home and agricultural estate. It houses one of the best collections of Roman Mosaics in the world. It has been declared a UNESCO world heritage site. The detailed mosaics are very well preserved because the site was buried under a landslide, protecting it from weather damage and looting. It is a collection of buildings roughly oriented on 3 separate axis

Map of the Villa del Romana Casale complex  (sights.com)

The estate consists of three main sections; 1.the open court and its encompassing rooms, 2. the private bath complex, 3. the grand formal entrance and a latrine complex. It is believed that in the 5^th and 6^th centuries the estates original walls were strengthened to protect the area from outside threats. It is recognized as a classic example of a Roman villa, but it is believed from the archaeological evidence that it was constructed over a pre-existing villa. The formal entrance hall has a grand entrance and columns of Egyptian granite. The floor and walls contain marble from different Mediterranean areas, this particular variety of marble was highly regarded in Roman times.

Villa Romana baths (Transparent roofing has been added to protect the ruins.)

When the Romans controlled Sicily they turned it into a vast agricultural area for the growing of grain to feed citizens of the empire. They had large agricultural estates called "Latifundia" in Sicily to see to those production needs. The villa is mentioned in Roman records and has the name of "Filosofiana", it is where the Roman official overseeing the estate lived, and where administrative functions for the estate were carried out. Rooms for state functions, for housing visiting dignitaries, dining halls, storage areas for agricultural products, and areas for the entertainment of visitors have been discovered. The villa is profusely decorated with mosaics and has frescoes as well. Two other Roman villas have also been discovered in Sicily, one is near Noto in SE Sicily, a grand old town known for Baroque style, and the other near Messina on the North East coast towards mainland Italy. Both of these villas also have mosaics but not as extensive as the Villa Romana del Casale.

View into the baths complex showing mosaics and the ancient stone wall construction. (my photo)

In the 12^th century, a massive landslide covered the villa and the remaining residents of the area moved to another settlement which has become the current location of the town of Piazza Armeria, which is 5 km away from the site.. The villa was mostly forgotten and the area was used as farmland after that. In the early 1800's columns and mosaics were being unearthed with farm plows and excavations were begun. An extensive medieval settlement has also been found in the area which was possibly abandoned when the landslide occurred. Today, the University of Rome is participating in formal archaeological digs.

Open court area showing part of the fountain, animal head mosaics, and geometric patterning on floor. (my photo)

The grand formal entrance of the villa had an elaborate fountain consisting of three basins with a mosaic of fish swimming in the waves. The most famous mosaic would be the one known as the "Bikini Girls" which features scenes of females who appear to be wearing bikinis participating in a variety of athletic competitions including weight lifting, discus throwing, running, and ball games. Also shown in the mosaic is a woman in a toga offering a crown and palm to the winner. The "Bikini Girls" mosaic was excavated in 1960. Other rooms feature a mosaic of Orpheus, a musician and poet in Greek Mythology, playing a lyre with tamed wild animals all around him. The "Great Hunt" scene features men in boats transporting all kinds of wild animals which they are transporting back to Rome. It shows different sea faring craft, oxen, elephants, sea creatures, lions, horned animals and hunters with shields. The mosaics are so detailed that the mosaic people even have shadows crafted in mosaic as well. Other representations detailed in the mosaics are: cupids fishing, a children's hunt, actors and choruses, fruits, geometrics, various animals, the poet Arion, dancing women, the seasons, giants wrestling with serpents, and a mosaic of Hercules.

Storeroom with detailed mosaics. (my photo)

The villa had a Roman thermal bath complex, supplied with water from an aqueduct system, with a layout following the common theme of Roman baths. An entrance, with places to undress, an exercise room, steam bath or calidaria, warm bath or tepidarium, and a cold bath or frigidarium with a pool. Remains of ovens used to heat the baths can be seen. The routine at a Roman bath was to enter and undress, visit the steam bath, then the warm bath to wash, apply oil and then scrape the skin of oil, dirt and sweat. After one was clean, then the cold baths were visited. Visitors can also see the remains of a large external octagonal latrine with several seats, located to the side of the villa.

"Bikini Girls" mosaic, (my photo).

Wiki, whc.unesco.org, map from: http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/456_Villa_Romana_del_Casale.html,

 Detail of Hunting mosaic (turismo in Italia)

Mosaic detail (typicalsicily.it)

Nice shot of floor mosaics and wall frescoes with the remains of columns lining the hall (agri turismo Borgo degli Ulivi)

From Palermo to Valley of the Temples in Agrigento

Palermo and Beyond!

Temple of Concordia, Agrigento

After three days in Palermo it was time for our tour to move on. We all boarded the bus for the 2-3 hour drive to the next stop, (94 km or 130 miles away) the Agrigento area and the Valley of Temples, on the south-eastern part of the island. The Sicilian countryside is peaceful, with much agriculture, and, of course, all the roads are being worked on. Sicily is quite self-sufficient and has its own natural resources, they like having some measure of independence, they are part of Italy but are considered an autonomous region. After learning about the history of the island, no one can blame them for wanting some kind of say in their own destiny. 

Dopo tre giorni a Palermo era tempo che l nostro tour proseguisse. Salomnotutti sull'autobus per 2-3 ore di macchina fino alla fermata successiva (94 km) l'area di Agrigento e la Valle dei Templi, nella parte sud-orientale dell'isola. La campagna siciliana e tranquilla, con molta agricoltura e, naturalmente, tutte le strade sono in fase di lavorazione. La Sicilla e abbastanza autosufficiente e ha le sue rosorse naturali, a loro piace avere una certa indipendenza, fanno parte dell'Italia ma sono considerate una regione autonoma. Dopo aver appreso della storia dell'isola, nessuno puo biasimarli per aver voluto dire qualcosa mel proprio destino.  

View out the bus window as we approached the site.

Valle dei Templi

This area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. It is the largest archaeological site n the world (3200 acres).

Agrigento, the modern name, was known as Akragas and was an ancient Greek settlement in Sicily. It was founded around 580 BC. It became a large settlement and it is believed as many as 300,000 people could have lived there at its supreme times. Excavations have found 12 km (7.5 miles) of walls and nine city gates that once enclosed the city, along with some of the largest and best preserved Greek architecture of any where in the world, even Greece. It has been named a World Heritage site and though much of it has not been excavated yet, many wonders have already been found at the site.

Quest'area e stata dichiarata Patriomonio dell'Umanita 

dall'UNESCO nel 1997. E il piu grande sito archeologico

del mondo 3200 acres. 

Agrigento, il nome moderno, era noto come Akragas ed era

un antico insediamento greco in Sicilia. Fu fondata intorno

al 580 a.C. Divenne un grande insediamento e si ritiene che 

300,000 persone avrebbero potuto vivere li ai suoi tempi

supremi. Gli scavi hanno trovato 12 km di mura e nove

porte cittadine che un tempo racchiudevano la citta,insieme

ad alcune delle piu grandi e meglio conservate architetture

greche di qualsiasi parte del mondo,persino la Grecia. 

E stato nominato un sito del patrimonio mondiale e sebbene

gran parte dii esso non sia stato ancora scavato, molte

meraviglie sono gia state trovate nel sito.

Residents of Akragas tried to stay neutral in the wars between the Greek cities of Athens and Sparta but it is known that they sided with the city of Syracuse (Siracusa in Sicily) when that city fought Carthage. The city was attacked by Carthage and by Rome in the First and Second Punic Wars, and it was attacked afterward as well. After the Second Punic War the peace proceedings awarded the city to Rome and the name was changed to Agrigentum. Even though the city now became part of the empire, it remained mostly a Greek settlement for hundreds of years afterward.

Gli abitanti di Akragas hanno cercato di rimanere neutrali nelle guerre tra le città greche di Atene e Sparta, ma si sa che si schierarono con la città di Siracusa (Siracusa in Sicilia) quando quella città combatté contro Cartagine. La città fu attaccata da Cartagine e da Roma nella prima e nella seconda guerra punica, e fu attaccata anche in seguito. Dopo la seconda guerra punica i procedimenti di pace assegnarono la città a Roma e il nome fu cambiato in Agrigentum. Anche se ora la città divenne parte dell'impero, rimase per lo più un insediamento greco per centinaia di anni dopo.

Remans of the Temple of Olympian Zeus

 

The city was passed to other conquerors when Rome fell, the Saracens, the Normans and the Bourbons all became rulers of Sicily in the forthcoming years. Eventually the lower, coastal parts of the settlement were abandoned in favor of settlement in the hilly region, where the old Greek temples were. This abandonment is believed to be because of the threat of invasion from raiders on the coast bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Taking refuge in the hills, in places where settlements were vulnerable to attack by sea was a common occurrence in other areas of southern Italy along the coasts. The city did not thrive under Norman or Bourbon rule and in 1860, along with the rest of Sicily it supported Garibaldi and the unification of Italy, north and south, to finally oust the Spanish. The city suffered many bombing raids during WW II under Mussolini's rule.

Today Agrigento is a popular destination for tourists in Sicily because of its vast archaeological history and it is also an agricultural center. Some of the best examples of Greek architecture can be seen in Sicily. Doric style Greek temples and the largest Greek temple believed to be erected anywhere in the world (Temple of Olympian Zeus) can be found at Agrigento. During the Byzantine era, Christians used the Temple of Concordia at Agrigento as a church and also built catacombs in the area. Rocks from the structures were re-purposed for the building of a port on the Mediterranean and other local building projects over the eons. Sieges of war and earthquakes have also left their marks on the structures there. The site has also been found to be rich in Neolithic artifacts which can be seen in the archaeological museum.

Temple of Olympian Zeus

La citta fu passata ad altri conquistator quando Roma cadde, i Saraceni, i Normanni e i Borboni divennero tutti sovrani della Sicilia nei prossimi anni. Alla fini le parte costiere inferiori dell'insediamento furono abbandonate a favore dell'insediamento nella regione collinare, doce si trovavano i vecchi templi greci. Si ritiene che questo abbandono sia dovuto alla minaccia di invasione da parte di predoni sulla costa al confine con il Mar Mediterraneo. Rifugiarsi sulle colline, in luoghi in cui gli insediamenti erano vulnerabili agli ataachi via mare era un evento comue in altro aree dell'Italia meridionale lungo le coste. La citta non prosperosotto il dominio normano o borbono e nel 1860, insieme al resto della Sicilia, sostenne Garibaldi e l"Unita d'Italia, nord e sud, per cacciare definitivamente gli spagnoli. La citta subi molti bombardamenti durante la seconda guerra mondiale sotto il dominio di Mussolini.

Oggi Agrigento è una destinazione popolare per i turisti in Sicilia a causa della sua vasta storia archeologica ed è anche un centro agricolo. Alcuni dei migliori esempi di architettura greca si possono vedere in Sicilia. I templi greci in stile dorico e il più grande tempio greco che si ritiene siano stati eretti in qualsiasi parte del mondo (Tempio di Zeus Olimpio) si trovano ad Agrigento. Durante l'epoca bizantina, i cristiani usarono il Tempio della Concordia ad Agrigento come chiesa e costruirono anche catacombe nella zona. Le rocce delle strutture sono state ridisegnate per la costruzione di un porto sul Mediterraneo e altri progetti di costruzione locale nel corso degli eoni. Assedi di guerra e terremoti hanno anche lasciato il segno sulle strutture lì. Il sito è stato anche trovato per essere ricco di manufatti neolitici che possono essere visti nel museo archeologico.

 

Sights to see: remnants of the catacombs and the city wall

Catacombs dug by Christians in the walls that surrounded the city.

The Concordia Temple, built around 450 to 430 BC, one of the best preserved Greek temples anywhere in the world. 6X12 columns.

The Temple of Hercules (Ercole), the oldest temple at the site build around 510 BC to honor the hero Hercules. It was re-erected in the 1920's. 6X15 Doric columns.

The Temple Dioscuri (of Castor and Pollux), 480-460 BC which was destroyed by a siege from Carthage in 406 BC.

The Temple of Hera (Juno), built around 450- 430 BC. Black stains of fire damage from the attack by Carthage in 406 BC can still be seen on the large temple stones. It overlooks the scenic valley. 6X13 columns.

The Temple of Olympian Zeus, Believed to be the largest Greek temple ever built in the world (480's BC) to commemorate a victory over Carthage in one of the city's many sieges. The size of this structure can be compared to the size of a modern football field. It was massive. Scholars say the temple was unique because the columns incorporated into the temple structure were set into a half-wall and the spaces in between the columns held huge statues that appeared to hold up the roof of the temple with their outstretched arms. Each of the 38 male statues were 7.6 meters (25 feet) tall. One of them lies upon the ground in large pieces near the temple. Iron was used as a structural support in the stones of the temple during construction. It is believed the temple was never completely finished because the city was again attacked and ruined by Carthage in the siege of 406 BC.

Some other structures at the site are, the Tomb of Theron, a burial monument once believed to contain a small pyramid, the Temple of Hephaestus, with only the base and a few columns left, and the Temple of Asclepius, a God of Healing, with only a partial sanctuary left.

Concordia front detail

Temple of Hera/Juno

Luoghi da vedere: resti delle catacombe e delle mura della citta. 

Il tempio della Concordia, costruito tra il 450 e il 430 a.C. uno dei templi greci meglio conservati in tutto il mondo. Colonne 6x12.

Il tempio di Ercole, il piu antico tempio del sito construito interno al 510 a.C. in onore dell'eroe Ercole. Fu eretto negli anni '20. Colonne doriche 6x15.

Il tempio Dioscuri (di Castore e Polluce), 480-460 a.C. che fu distrutto da un assedio di Cartagine nel 406 a.C.

Il tempio di Hera (Giunone), construito intorno al 450-430 a.C. Mecchie nere di danni da fuoco dell'atacco di Cartagine nel 406 a.C. sono ancora visibili sulle grandi pietre del tempio. Si affaccia sulla valle scenica. Colonne 6x13.

Il tempio di Zeus Olimpio, ritenuto il più grande tempio greco mai costruito al mondo (480 a.C.) per commemorare una vittoria su Cartagine in uno dei tanti assedi della città. La dimensione di questa struttura può essere paragonata alla dimensione di un moderno campo di calcio. È stato enorme. Gli studiosi affermano che il tempio era unico perché le colonne incorporate nella struttura del tempio erano incastonate in una mezza parete e gli spazi tra le colonne contenevano enormi statue che sembravano sostenere il tetto del tempio con le braccia distese. Ognuna delle 38 statue maschili era alta 7,6 metri (25 piedi). Uno di questi giace a terra in grandi pezzi vicino al tempio. Il ferro è stato usato come supporto strutturale nelle pietre del tempio durante la costruzione. Si ritiene che il tempio non sia mai stato completamente completato perché la città fu nuovamente attaccata e rovinata da Cartagine nell'assedio del 406 a.C.

Artist rendering of the Temple of Olympian Zeus.

Telamon or one of the giant statues (7.5 m tall or 24.5 feet) were holding up the roof of the Olympian Zeus Temple (see artists rendering above)

Prickly Pear cactus are seen all around the island of Sicily, these were growing in the Archaeological prk.

Sunset on the Mediterranean Sea as seen from our hotel near Agrigento.

Concordia Temple

Agrigento is 94 k (130 miles) from Palermo.

www.ancient.eu,

justfunfacts.com

wikipedia