The thermal baths

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

The subjects that emerge in the first phase mosaics are more legible in the north-eastern apse.
A young man, seated on a chair on which a fringed pardalis rests, is wrapped in a soft towel, used after bathing in the pool. Behind him, a servant approaches while holding a cloth and another young man, placed opposite, holds a white robe with clavi , a green cloak and a pardalis, all folded in an orderly fashion.An opposite scene can be seen in the niche to the west, from whose mosaic fragments four figures can be made out, represented in the act of undressing. The central figure has just removed his green paenula , handed to the servant dressed in red, and dons the colobium, a robe covering the tunic, adorned with elegantly decorated clavi and orbiculi . At his feet, another servant is probably kneeling to unbuckle this character’s sandals.

An organic microcosm: the structure of the villa

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

The rural sacrifice

A small room embellished with marble

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

An official ceremony to welcome the Dominus

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

A royal room housed the Dominus during his audiences

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

The senses tell the massage room

The senses tell the frigidarium

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

The Latifundium

A view of the race from the imperial gallery

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

The catalogue of animals

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

A small room used as a privileged entrance to the baths

Worship of the Lares

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

Form of greeting or ritual?

The senses tell the private entrance to the spa

A line of armed men for an important Dominus

Solemn and majestic architecture to welcome a high-ranking commissioner

The capture of wild animals for the roman amphitheatre games

The protagonists of the mosaics

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

An individual who has attracted the attention of scholars

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

The astral interpretation of the mosaic

Outdoor breakfast

The senses tell the Vestibule

The prestige of the dominus is revealed through the wall frescoes

An eloquent symbol: the signum

The senses tell the Quadrangular Peristyle

A day of hunting at the villa

The senses tell the monumental entrance

The mosaics of the late antiquity residence

The senses tell the Tri-Apsed Triclinium

The senses tell the Basilica

The public and private rooms of the villa

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

The possible celebration of a solemn event

The paths of virus, a reflection of the Dominus

The main nuclei of the Domus

The apotheosis of Hercules

The senses tell the Bi-Apsed room

The protagonists of the mosaic and the military themed frescoes

The senses tell the Sacellum of the Lares

Semi-public rooms

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

The mansio of Philosophiana. A stopping place

A hidden meaning

A dialogue between mythological and realistic scenes

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