Day 6: Villa Romana del Casale
The Mosaics at Villa Romana del Casale
This villa is tucked away in the middle of nowhere Sicily, but it is one of the world's finest remnants of the Roman Empire. Around 300 AD, as Rome was starting to fall, some big shot built his home away from the chaos of Rome and adorned it with 37,000 square feet of exquisite mosaics. We don't know the villa's owner, but it could have been a Senator or maybe an importer of exotic animals. This villa is special because there aren't a lot of Roman sites that survive in Sicily without having been looted or recycled. This villa most likely survived because of a landslide that sealed off and hid the area since the 1300s. This was one of our favorite sites on the tour. We love sites like this and really take our time and enjoy what is on offer.
Working Farm Visit
We stopped for lunch at this working farm, the owner of whom is the far right bottom photo in pink. She and her family and staff were such lovely people and made us an amazing meal. First we were outside under the trees for some drinks and appetizers. Then we headed into a converted barn for the main meal. Afterwards, we had time to wander bits of the estate that were nearby.
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Since we had such a wonderful and filling lunch we decided to grab some bubbly, fruit and baked goods from a nearby store and take it to the rooftop of our hotel for 'dinner.' We had a lovely view while we enjoyed our munchies, reminisced about our favorite mosaics from the villa, and talked about what we were looking forward to most tomorrow in Syracuse.
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