Palaestra

Central Sicily


The palaestra wows with a splendid, sweeping mosaic depicting a chariot race at the Circus Maximus in Rome (the room is also known as the Salone del Circo or Circus Room).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Central Sicily attractions

1. Frigidarium

0.01 MILES

The radiating apses in the the octagonal frigidarium contained bracing plunge pools.

2. Atrium

0.02 MILES

This elegant space functioned as the Roman villa's forecourt.

3. Tepidarium

0.02 MILES

In the tepidarium you can see the exposed brickwork and vents that allowed hot steam into the room.

4. Peristyle

0.02 MILES

The main part of the villa is centred on the peristyle, a vast covered courtyard lined with amusing animal heads. This is where guests would have been…

5. Villa Romana del Casale

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Villa Romana del Casale is sumptuous, even by decadent Roman standards, and is thought to have been the country retreat of Marcus Aurelius Maximianus,…

6. Little Hunt

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Of the rooms on the northern side of the peristyle, the most interesting is a dining room featuring a hunting mosaic called the Little Hunt – 'little'…

7. Main Entrance

0.03 MILES

The villa's main entrance leads through the remnants of a triumphal arch into an elegant atrium (forecourt).

8. Ambulacro della Grande Caccia

0.03 MILES

This 64m-long corridor is emblazoned with dramatic hunting scenes of tigers, leopards, elephants, antelopes, ostriches and a rhino – animals that the…