25 August 2017

Friday fold: Villa Romana di Casale

Posted by Callan Bentley

Okay, I’ll admit this is a bit of a stretch, but here’s your Friday fold:

The mosaic-covered floor of this long hallway in the Villa Romana di Casale in central Sicily shows profound warping. The middle shadowed area sags downward by at least a meter, maybe more. It’s not a geological material that’s been deformed, but an architectural element instead. Still: the principle of original horizontality applies to floors as well as to sedimentary strata. It’s a fold, of sorts.

This Roman villa was covered by a mudslide, which preserved its many mosaics for future tourists to wonder at. Since I’ve brought you here, we may as well check out some of the mosaic imagery in the place:

Happy Friday! If you ever make it to Sicily, this place is worth seeking out – pretty mind blowing!