Piazza Armerina, Sicily: historic town and mosaics of Villa Romana del Casale

Visit Piazza Armerina

Piazza Armerina is a lively local town surrounded by forested slopes in the heart of Sicily, betwen Agrigento (on the coast of south-west Sicily) and Catania (on the coast to the east). The town still follows its original medieval design although many of the buildings date from the 17th to 19th centuries and are in the baroque style.

Explore Piazza Armerina

Italy This Way review: we would not travel a long way to visit Piazza Armerina - the town has some interesting buildings but is not very renovated - but if you are touring Sicily you will be nearby anyway to visit the Roman villa and the town merits an hour or two to be explored while you are here

The mosaics in the Villa Romana del Casale on the edge of the town are the main attraction at Piazza Armerina: they are among the most impressive floor mosaics from the Roman perod and are of a very large scale and with a remarkable level of artistic ability: see Villa Romana del Casale for details.

Here in the old town of Piazza Armerina there are several buildings of historic and artistic interest, including a 14th century castle, the Town Hall and a 17th century cathedral, several notable churches and the baroque style Palazzo Trigona.

Start your visit in Piazza Garibaldi. From the top of this square there are two roads towards the east that are of interest to visitors: Via Umberto and Via Marconi (becomes Via Garibaldi as you walk east). The castle is south-west along Va Vittorio Emanuelle, and the cathedral is to the north-west along Via Cavour. You will also find tourist information for Piazza Armerina along Via Cavour.

The Renaissance-Baroque style cathedral of Piazza Armerina stands in Piazza Cattedrale, in the highest part of the town. The cathedral was founded on the ruins of the former Mother Church of which only the original bell tower remains. The façade is divided by two orders of pilasters with a large window above and a richly decorated portal below.

On the right of the facade you can see the imposing bell tower, with two rows of windows in Gothic and Renaissance style.

The interior of the Cathedral has a Latin cross form with a dome over twenty metres high. There are many works of art here - note in particular the 'Assumption of the Virgin' by Filippo Paladini (1544-1610); the 'Martyrdom of Saint Agatha' by Jacopo Ligozzi (1547-1627) and the wooden cross, attributed to the school of Antonello da Messina (1427-1479), whose author is known as the 'Master of the Cross of Piazza Armerina'.

In the same square as the cathedral you can also see the 18th century Palace of the Trigona. The main façade of the palace has a portal, a series of large windows on the first floor, and a balcony above. From Piazza Garibaldi you can also access the area known as the "Canali", an ancient village that was home to the Jews.

The Church of St. John's in Piazza Armerina dates from the 14th century and was frescoed in the 18th century by the Flemish painter G. Borremans (1672-1744).

In the lower part of the district called "Casalotto" you can visit the Chiesa del Carmine, a 17th century church which was built on the ruins of the 15th century Church of Saint Albert - the original bell tower, of Gothic-Catalan style, can still be seen. Also noteworthy in this church is the 16th century cloister and the 'Madonna' painted by A. Gagini above the portal.

Behind the former Benedictine Monastery is the area known as "Castellina”, one of four historical districts of the city and so named because it originally developed below a castle. At its heart is the Church of Saint Venerable whose foundation probably dates from the 12th century. The church has a single nave with a wooden roof supported by wooden trusses.

On the edge of this neighborhood is the ancient Tower, dating from 1337 when the walls were enlarged.

The next region to explore in Piazza Armerina is the “Monte” district, which is a classic example of Norman town planning with picturesque narrow streets. Highlights here include the richly frescoed 16th century Church of the Guardian Angels and the 12th century church of Santa Maria della Catena.

In Via Crocifisso is the church of Saint Martin of Tours, the first church founded by the Normans in the new city of "Platia", whose construction began in 1163.

The principal attraction in Piazza Castello is the Aragonese Castle that was built in the late 14th century and once the residence of King Martin I of Aragon. You can also see some palazzos such as Velardita, Roccella (18th century) and Starrabba (19th century) and the 17th century Church of Our Lady of the Snows, near the convent of the Augustinians.

Outside the city walls the Church of Sant'Andrea was founded in the early decades of the 12th century and is an important example of the medieval Sicilian style. Inside the church a significant amount of fragments of frescoes have been found that were carried out between the 12th and 15th centuries - among these, experts have identified a "Crucifixion of Saint Andrew", an "Annunciation," and a "Massacre of the Innocents".

The region around Piazza Armerina

The Roman villa at Piazza Armerina is in an area of great natural importance. Here you are in the southern “Erei” Mounts, between the Gela River, which waters the surrounding area and makes it fertile and suitable for the cultivation of hazelnuts, grapes, olives and wheat; the eucalyptus forests that surround Piazza Armerina; and the waters of the nearby Lake Pergusa.

Like many towns in the region Aidone suffered in the 1693 earthquake and many of its monuments were rebuilt in Baroque style. Morgantina is another town for lovers of archaological sites and here you can see substantial ruins of Greek origins.

On the coast of Sicily to the south, you will certainly want to visit Agrigento to see the temples.

You can find more local travel ideas in the Sicily guide.