Knock Knock! Who's there at Villa Romana del Casale?

Just a couple hours from our front door is the 4th century Villa Romana del Casale - a few miles outside of the town of Piazza Armerina. It is the richest, largest and most complex collection of late Roman mosaics in the world! A 12th century landslide aided in preserving the mosaic floors.



All these mosaics pictured here are made from tiny little stones pieced together to create these mega-masterpieces. One - These little stones are not dyed or painted--they're colored by nature. Two - It's believed that an entire colony of master and lower level artisans created these mosaics in this sprawling compound over a 10-year period.



Our friends Maryellen and Kendra brought us here and this day was one of my favorite experiences in Sicily. This is a must-see in Sicily! Tour guide Maryellen explained each room and each mosaic and meanwhile my imagination was going wild -- While only the mosaics and structural remains live on -- I could enivsion the marble columns, the frescos adorning the walls, and the servants and farms and -- the villa in its hey day must've been something to see.



With just a few pillars jutting up from the ground, the villa was largely forgotten the last few centuries and it was in 1920s that the first sincere excavation began.