Realmonte ( Sicilian: ''Muntiriali'') is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces ('' province''). The can ...

'' (municipality) in the Region of Agrigento in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Provence

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, located about south of

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for it ...

and about west of

Agrigento Agrigento (; scn, Girgenti or ; grc, Ἀκράγας, translit=Akrágas; la, Agrigentum or ; ar, كركنت, Kirkant, or ''Jirjant'') is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. It was one o ...

. Realmonte borders the following municipalities:

Porto Empedocle Porto Empedocle ( scn, 'a Marina) is a town and ''comune'' in Italy on the coast of the Strait of Sicily, administratively part of the province of Agrigento. It was named after Empedocles, a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of the c ...

Siculiana Siculiana is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Agrigento, Sicily, southern Italy, west of the provincial capital Agrigento. Geography Siculiana’s long coast line is largely unspoiled; a protected Regional Nature Reserve has been e ...

. A tourist attraction in the town is the Scala dei Turchi. The ancient Roman villa nearby with exquisite mosaics can be visited.

History

The large and elaborate Roman villa of Realmonte (also called Durrueli) is located on the coast. In Roman times this would have represented the seat of a large estate or ''

latifundia A ''latifundium'' (Latin: ''latus'', "spacious" and ''fundus'', "farm, estate") is a very extensive parcel of privately owned land. The latifundia of Roman history were great landed estates specializing in agriculture destined for export: grain, o ...

''. Excavations have recently revealed more of the extent and history of the site. It is not known when the municipality was founded, but its origins probably go back to the second half of the 17th century.

The Roman villa

The Roman villa was first discovered in 1907 consisting of two rooms with elaborate ''

opus sectile ''Opus sectile'' is a form of pietra dura popularized in the ancient and medieval Roman world where materials were cut and inlaid into walls and floors to make a picture or pattern. Common materials were marble, mother of pearl, and glass. The ...

'' in expensive coloured marbles and three rooms with mosaic floors dating from the 1st c. AD. Further excavations in 1979-1985 brought to light and adjacent wing of the villa with the thermal baths, probably built in a later period in 2nd c. AD. The villa included a peristyle around a garden which included the ''impluvium'', a large basin for collecting rainwater. Excavations resumed in 2017 and revealed that the villa extended to an area of 5000 sq. m and was occupied until the 7th c. AD. It became a major industrial site producing tiles and pottery in the later period.

Twin towns

Hornaing Hornaing () is a commune in the Nord department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geogra ...

, France, since 2011 *

Perm Perm or PERM may refer to: Places *Perm, Russia, a city in Russia **Permsky District, the district **Perm Krai, a federal subject of Russia since 2005 **Perm Oblast, a former federal subject of Russia 1938–2005 **Perm Governorate, an administrat ...

, Russia, since 2011 * Eppelborn, Germany, since 2013

References

Cities and towns in Sicily Roman villas in Italy Roman sites of Sicily {{Sicily-geo-stub