Cottanello is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rieti in the Italian region Latium, located about north of Rome and about west of

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...

. An elaborate ancient Roman villa was discovered here in 1968 in the hamlet of Collesecco (evocative of an arid and stony place) in the valley below the historic centre of Cottanello. Subsequently a building was erected to protect the villa.

Roman villa of Cottanello

Also known as the Roman Villa Cotta of Collesecco after its ancient owners, the Cotta family, and its location. Villa romana di Cottanello 09

Description

The villa had a manor-type country residence part, embellished with sculptural decorations, architectural terracotta and excellently preserved geometric mosaic floors, made with local limestone and with Cottanello red marble. The villa has an area of about 37 x 45 m and is composed of about 30 rooms with an atrium and a peristyle. One of the door thresholds has figured inserts with plant motifs, another depicts a pair of chanterelles. The walls are covered with painted plaster; some remains of

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

decoration are evident. There was also a slave-run farm for food production. The villa comprises: * atrium of Tuscan-style with a mosaic floor with white crosses on a black background; rainwater collected in the quadrangular impluvium with a flat bottom in opus spicatum, and from here it was distributed to the adjacent baths * tablinum, a passage room between