Travel Date: October 2017
We set out from Realmonte to drive roughly 215 Km across the Southern part of Sicily to Catania on the Eastern coast of the island.
Driving across Sicily was fairly comfortable. It helped that we traveled in off-peak October, that there were 3 additional adults distracting the kids and the highways were mostly empty and fairly well-maintained.
Despite this, the prospect of a 3+ hour drive with 2 kids 3-and-under didn't entice any of us. Therefore, when I suggested stopping roughly midway to see a Roman villa with UNESCO heritage (website in Italian) floor mosaics, it was met with a surprisingly good response.
Villa Romana del Casale is a large Roman villa located a few Km outside the town of Piazza Armerina. It is most famous for one of the most varied, richest and largest collections of Roman mosaics in the world, dating back to the early 4th century A.D.
How has a Roman villa in rural Sicily managed to maintain its floor mosaics for over 1600 years?
Rather serendipitously, a set of floods and landslides in the 12th century almost completely covered the villa and its 35000 sq. ft. of mosaics until the villa itself was re-discovered in the late 19th century, helping preserve these mosaics.
It wasn't until the 20th century that the magnitude of the villa's treasures came to light.
The most famous or talked-about of the discovered mosaics is in a room of the villa identified as the room of the gymnasts. In the artwork, several women athletes are shown competing in sports including running, discus throwing and other ball games with laurels awaiting the winner. The garments worn by the depicted women are frequently described (I imagine by men) as the earliest bikinis.
The villa also has a small cafe on site.
With mosaics no longer on our mind, we headed to what would be our base for the final leg of the trip: Sicily Country House & Beach, a 7-hectare property just outside Catania. With their own farm, from where they source their produce, to their citrus orchard adjoining the property, a swimming pool and a private beach with a stunning view of smoking Mt. Etna, this is a real gem.
After a long day and a long drive, it was time to explore the property, kick back by the pool and just chill out.
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