| The Roman Villa of Casale |
 In 1996 Unesco stated The Roman Villa of Casale, the greatest testimonial of Roman traditions in the world, is to be considered "artistic heritage of mankind" and in October 1999, the Sicilian Regional Government promoted it to "Regional Archaeological Museum".
The Roman Villa, which is about three kilometers far from Piazza Armerina, on the provincial road to Barrafranca, was built by the Romans during the 3rd and 4th century A.C., on a previous rustic construction of the 2nd century A.C. Professor V. Gentile, that performed the archeological excavations in 1950, attributed the construction of the Villa to the Roman emperor Maximianus Herculius and this is still the most accredited theory. The Villa was certainly inhabited until the 13th century, proof being the Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Norman coins found during the excavations; besides, around the Villa, on the southern side, towards Contrada Sofiana, the Roman Philosophiana, an aerophotogrammetry furnished the proof of the existence of a village, that to date is still buried and that, most probably, was partially destroyed, together with the Villa, by Guglielmo il Malo. In 1163, he authorized the construction of a new town, Platia, in the place where Piazza Armerina is now. Afterwards the Villa was covered by debris from Monte Mangone and all traces of it were lost until 17th century, when an eminent inhabitant of Piazza Armerina, Chiarandà, wrote: "In the Casale district there are walls and ruins on unknown origin". During excavations in 19th century, the Triclinium was bought to light. But the actual excavations were performed by Prof. V. Gentili in 1950 and lasted 7 years. About 60 rooms and 3500 square meters of mosaics of inestimable value were bought to light.
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