Our friends Katherine & Craig are our neighbours in the marina. Unfortunately, they are not staying for the winter but returning to Florida. They worked really hard putting the boat to bed before they departed and were due a day off, so we hired a car and set off in search of the famous Bikini Girls of Villa Romana del Casale in Piazza Armerina!

The drive took us across mountains and through rural Sicily, with some stunning views. Set in a wooded valley, 5km southwest of the town of Piazza Armerina, the Unesco-listed Villa Romana del Casale is Sicily’s biggest attraction due to the finest Roman floor mosaics in existence. That is a big claim but it is true.

The villa is thought to have been the country retreat of Marcus Aurelius Mazimianus, Rome’s co-emperor during the reign of Diocletian (AD 286-305).The four interconnected groups of buildings spread over the hillside certainly suggest a palace of imperial standing.

Following a landslidein the 12th century, the villa lay under 10m of mud for some 700 years and was therefore protected from the effects of air, wind and rain. It was only when serious excavation work began in the 1950’s that the mosaics were brought back to light. They cover almost the entire floor of the villa and many of them were laid by craftsmen from Carthage in North Africa, which at the time was the most culturally sophisticated part of the western Roman empire.

The main part of the villa is centred on the vast open-air courtyard lined with animal heads. From here, guests would be taken through to the basilica (throne room). All the rooms surrounding the courtyard have superb mosaics but for us the showcase was the Corridor of the Great Hunt, a 64m-long corridor which showcases the Roman Empire of the time with hunting scenes and animals from around the world. However, the villa’s most famous mosaic is the Sala della Diece Ragazze (Room of the 10 Girls)depicting 9 of the original 10 bikini-clad girls working out with dumbells and weights. The banquet hall is covered by glass and has a raised walkway from which you can see illustrated the labours of Hercules, with tortured monsters ensnared by Odysseus.

It must have been a beautiful place to live but I couldn’t work out where you could go for a quiet 10 minutes if you lived there; everywhere you went you would be surrounded by colourful, busy mosaics of wild animals and mythical creatures, not very condusive to a bit of Jane Austin!
It really is a must-see and has only re-opened this year after some renovations and improvements.

For photos, CLICK HERE

CRUISER INFO
Entrance fee 10 euros per person. Sounds a lot but well worth it.
If driving, the turn off to the left is as you enter Piazza Amerina’s main high street and is easily missed.