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Piazza Armerina and the Roman Villa del Casale
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Traces of human settlements (houses and necropolises) are scattered throughout the area which because of its particular characteristics was certainly inhabited even in the remotest of epochs. In historical times it was probably the Greeks of Gela who founded the first city here. The Romans, as was their wont, fully appreciated the beauty of the place, and the Villa del Casale is the finest testimony of the fascination that Sicily exerted on this warlike people. The modern town is attributed to the Normans who fought the Arabs here and also fought among themselves, or rather against their Lombard allies, who suffered defeat and destruction, and later returned in large numbers under Frederick II. (The dialect spoken at Piazza Armerina reveals once again its ancient origins from the Lombard town Piacenza).
Main monuments and highlights of Piazza Armerina
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The city spreads over three hills of different height. As we arrive from the hinterland of the island, we first cross an area of green woodland, on the far side of which the town appears before our eyes, with its houses on different levels, dominated by the Aragonese Castle and the Duomo, which has a great dome and a high campanile (40 m). Passing through mediaeval streets, we reach the Duomo, which is dedicated to Our Lady of the Annunciation. This Duomo dates from 1604 and is built on the site of an older church, which is still visible in the lower part of the campanile. In the single great nave there are numerous works of artistic value or simply of historical interest, dating from various periods. Among these we may mention a Madonna believed to have been given to Count Roger the Norman by Pope Nicholas II; various canvases by Giuseppe Salerno; the unusual two sided crucifix by the so-called "maestro della croce" (master of the cross), still unidentified; and Our Lady of the Assumption, by the painter Filippo Paladino, whose reputation has today been justifiably re-evaluated. The Museo Diocesano also contains various interesting items: some reliquaries, articles of silverware, monstrance, vestments, wax figures, etc. The Aragonese Castle dates from the end of the 14th c. and was built by King Martin I. Its vast dimensions vie with those of the Duomo; square in shape, with square towers, its overall aspect is stark and massive. Two other churches in the town are well worth a visit: San Rocco, baroque, with its carved tufa portal, is a work of art (the frescoed ceiling of the nearby Palazzo di Città is also worth seeing); and San Giovanni Evangelista (14th c.), whose interior is entirely frescoed by Guglielmo Borremans and his assistants. Outside the town, but not far away, is the ancient Chiesa del Priorato di Sant'Andrea (1096); this church was founded by Count Simon of Butera, a nephew of Roger I. The interior was frescoed in the following two centuries. Also outside the town is the famous Roman Villa del Casale, located in a pleasant little valley about 5 km from Piazza Armerina, between Monte Mangone and the source of the River Gela. This is one of the most outstanding archaeological testimonies of Roman Sicily of the Imperial Age. Built between the end of the 3rd c. and the beginning of the 4th, this luxurious dwelling is ingeniously distributed in three distinct groups of buildings, i.e. peristyles, courtyards and thermal, which together constitute a unity of style worthy of the highest admiration. Most interesting of all are the various series of beautiful ornamental and figured mosaics which embellish the entire building: there is perhaps no other place in the ancient world that is comparable either in the overall quantity or in magnificence. One of the floors, dating from the late Constantinian age, presents the now celebrated scene of the ten girls clad in bikinis, i.e. with a "subligar" around their flanks and a band covering the breast.
Text taken from: "Sicily and its islands" by Ugo La Rosa editore.
Other main destinations in Sicily
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Other main destinations in Sicily are: Palermo - Monreale - Cefalù - Erice - Segesta - Selinunte - Agrigento - Taormina - Caltagirone - Siracusa - Catania - Mount Etna - Aeolian Islands
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BlueStone Tourism Services
Tour operator & incentive destination management for Sicily
Eris Centre - Suite 309 - Via Pulica s.n.
Lotto Colle del Gelsomino - 95024 Aci S. Antonio (CT) - Italy
Tel. +39.095.7652696 (ext.309) - Fax +39.095.7652696 (ext.319)
BlueStone Tourism Services
Tour Operator for Sicily
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Address
Eris Centre - Suite 309
Via Pulica s.n.
Lotto Colle del Gelsomino
95024 Aci S. Antonio (CT)
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Telephone & Fax numbers
Tel. +39.095.7652696 (ext.309)
Fax +39.095.7652696 (ext.319)
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