Oh my readers, you are all going to flip right out. That is what we did today, flipped out over the most beautiful and the most amazing Roman mosaics known. Interestingly, we also visited a Greek settlement and as is usual, the Roman mosaics were developed from early Greek mosaics. So, things will be a bit backward in this post, chronologically that is, as you will see the wonderful Roman mosaics first and then the early Greek mosaics from the settlement of Morgantina. And what a place Morgantina is, the Greeks and their views of the landscape; it sits high on a ridge surrounded by open countryside. It does not get any better than this.
We got up early so we could drive a couple of hours to visit the huge ruined Roman villa. The site opens at 9:00 and we were the only people there until the tour buses arrived, we even arrived before the parking attendants. Archaeologists do not know who owned this massive villa, but he would have been a very wealthy aristocrat.
Take a look at this plan, the villa does not adhere to the principles of Roman domestic architecture. Axiality and symmetry are replaced by an irregular plan with visual harmony within the interior of the villa.
The mosaics are overwhelming, there are 32,000 square feet of floor mosaic, all beautifully crafted. We had no idea the mosaics would be so extensive and so utterly fantastic.
The huge peristyle courtyard with a pool and fountain, surrounded by columns faced with marble, is surrounded by these square panels with animal heads, all surrounded by a geometric border.
The corridor of the Great Hunt runs the width of the villa at just over 216 feet, it separates the public spaces from the private areas of the villa. The Great Hunt depicts the capture and transport of animals to Rome.
An apse is at each end of the corridor of the Great Hunt. The female figure in the southern apse is thought to be a personification of India because of the elephant and tiger. Or, perhaps she is Ethiopia because of the legendary bird, the phoenix. The nest is on fire, the phoenix is reborn from its own ashes.
Mythological figures of Cupid and Psyche
Amazing geometic pattern with 12-point stars, inside the stars are laurel wreaths
Room of the ten girls, this is likely the most popular and most photographed mosaic, also referred to as the girls in bikinis. There are other far more artistic mosaics, a point made by my Sicily guide book, but what do you think is on the cover of my guide book? Yup, one of the girls. So goes our nutty society. You can see in the corner that this mosaic replaced an older geometric mosaic.
This is a wonderful atrium with cupids involved in fishing.
A bedchamber with scenes of children hunting. Those in the top panel have been successful in getting a rabbit and a duck. Those in the bottom panel are having problems, the boy on the left has been bitten by a rat and his leg is bleeding, the boy on the right is on the ground, having been attacked by a raging rooster, hysterical.
This mythical scene is of the poet Arion riding a dolphin, he is surrounded by sea creatures and naiads, daughters of the god of the sea, Nereus. Arion was on his way to Greece from Sicily after having won a musical contest. The mariners stole his prize money and then tossed him into the sea. The dolphin rescued Arion.
There was a bus load of Japanese visitors at the villa while we were there. They are all very polite but do not spend much time at each stop. Then a couple of busloads of German visitors came, I don’t know what is with the Germans, but they really stand their ground, never getting over so we could get by on the narrow walkways.
After visiting the villa, we drove over to the Greek settlement of Morgantina. The torrents of rain washed a lot of dirt onto the highway, there was a mini backhoe removing the dirt and debris.
A settlement was originally founded in 850 BC by a group of Sicels who called themselves Morgetians. Greeks fought over the site and in the 6th century BC, they built a new city. It was captured by the Romans in 211 BC and given to a company of Spanish mercenaries, thus began a slow decline. The town was abandoned in the 1st century AD.
The Greeks did not have atriums in their houses, they had passageways from the front entry. On either side of the passageway would be a stable and the doorkeepers quarters. Doors would close off this area, it was called the thuroreion, from the thuroreion you entered the peristyle. Houses were single or double peristyle with mosaic floors. The peristyle was surrounded by a colonnade on three sides. Morgantina villas had pressurized water distribution where water came from reservoirs which sat at higher elevation in the town.
This is a gorgeous view from the west residential hill of the town, down to the agora, or public space of the city.
This is the macellum, a covered market with shops, the circle in the centre was a building with thick walls, used to store fresh food.
Greek theatre, there is an inscription in Greek on the seats.
The ekklesiasterion, a three-sided flight of steps in the agora. It separated the upper agora where political events and business took place from the lower agora, where the sanctuaries were located.
Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone, theatre in the background.
House of the Doric Capital.
Early floor mosaic in tesserae from the House of Ganymede, built in 260 BC.
There is a fine museum in the small hilltop town of Aidone, near Morgantina. That was our last stop for the day, then we had to get going to make it back to Modica prior to dark.
Huge storage vessels from Morgantina.
Gorgeous gilded silver objects dating to the 3rd century BC.
Dea di Morgantina - 410 BC
She is carved from local limestone, while her head, feet and arms are marble. This statue is large and weighs 600 kg. There is ongoing debate regarding who she represents, Demeter, Persephone or Aphrodite. She was taken by diggers in the 20th century and sold through a smuggling group, ending up in the USA. The Italians had to initiate international legal proceedings to get her back, she was finally returned home in the last few years.
Lovely artifacts.
Tomorrow is a travel day, we drive to Catania and then fly to Rome. It is goodbye to Sicily, we love this place.
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