Sicily - Southern Italy - page 424

TUA (Trasporti Urbani Agrigento; 092 241 20 24) buses run down to the Valley of the Temples
from the Piazza Rosselli bus station, stopping in front of the train station en route. Take
bus 1, 2 or 3 (€1.10 with pre-purchased ticket, €1.65 on board) and get off at either the
museum or the Piazzale dei Templi. Bus 1 continues to Porto Empedocle and bus 2 con-
tinues to San Leone. The Linea Verde (Green Line) bus runs hourly from the train station
to the cathedral.
WORTH A TRIP
SICILY'S BEST-PRESERVED ROMAN MOSAICS
Near the town of Piazza Armerina in central Sicily is the stunning 3rd-century Roman Villa Romana del Casale
( 093 568 00 36; www.villaromanadelcasale.it ; adult/reduced €10/5; 9am-6pm summer, 9am-4pm
winter), a Unesco World Heritage Site and one of the few remaining sites of Roman Sicily. This sumptuous hunt-
ing lodge is thought to have belonged to Diocletian's co-emperor Marcus Aurelius Maximianus. Buried under
mud in a 12th-century flood, it remained hidden for 700 years before its magnificent floor mosaics were dis-
covered in the 1950s. Visit out of season or early in the day to avoid the hordes of tourists.
The mosaics cover almost the entire floor (3500 sq metres) of the villa and are considered unique for their nar-
rative style, the range of subject matter and variety of colour - many are clearly influenced by African themes.
Along the eastern end of the internal courtyard is the wonderful Corridor of the Great Hunt , vividly depicting
chariots, rhinos, cheetahs, lions and the voluptuously beautiful Queen of Sheba. Across the corridor is a series of
apartments, where floor illustrations reproduce scenes from Homer. But perhaps the most captivating of the mo-
saics is the so-called Room of the Ten Girls in Bikinis , with depictions of sporty girls in scanty bikinis throwing
a discus, using weights and throwing a ball; they would blend in well on a Malibu beach. These most famous of
Piazza Armerina's mosaics were fully reopened to the public in 2013 after years of painstaking restoration and
are among Sicily's greatest classical treasures.
Travelling by car from Piazza Armerina, follow signs south of town to the SP15, then continue 5km to reach
the villa.
Getting here without a car is more challenging. Buses operated by Interbus (p803) from Catania (€8.90, 1¾
hours) or SAIS ( 093 568 01 19; www.saisautolinee.it ) from Enna (€3.40, 40 minutes) run to Piazza Armer-
ina; from here catch a local bus (€0.70, 30 minutes, summer only) or a taxi (€20) the remaining 5km.