Villa Romana del Casale
lays on mild hills 3 km away from Piazza Armerina,
a lovely sicilian burg.
This once magnificent residence was built around the 4th century
and its pavements were enriched and decorated
with what is considered the greatest collection of mosaics in the world.
Although the villa itself is no longer preserved,
the UNESCO made an incredible effort building glass houses
reproducing the structure of the villa, so to cover the splendid
paving :
every area of the villa,
from the waiting room to access the sauna,
to the backyard,
passing through gyms, ball rooms, mini reproductions of the Roman Forum
and immense trottoirs
is covered with thousands pieces of colorful stones,
hand set into always different and astonishing pictures
and representations of what the otium
and life looked like back in time.
The first room to be discovered in 1959
was the "Chamber of the Ten Maidens",
immediately know as the bikini girls
and we don't know whether Gentili
(the discoverer)
appreciated the informal baptism.
Staring at those girls,
carved by mastery and tiles,
it came to mi mind that they certainly did not have
mental illnesses such as #thighgap or shatush.
And to this concept of woman I dedicate a song,
or better,
If you have the chance once you're traveling through Sicily,
take 3 hours of your time
and pay it (10 euros) a visit..
I found this place fascinating and well preserved,
well integrated with modern structures,
even enriched by some contemporary art pieces
(some really interesting, others avoidable)
...
