Archaeological investigations resume at the Roman Villa of Durrueli

Date:
12 June 2024

Archaeological investigations resume at the Roman Villa of Durrueli
Team of archaelogical investigations in Realmonte

Monday 3 June saw the start of the first excavation campaign at the Roman Villa in contrada Durrueli in Realmonte (Agrigento), conducted by the School of Specialisation in Archaeological Heritage, the National Research Council’s Institutes for Cultural Heritage Sciences (CNR-ISPC, Catania branch) and Mediterranean Studies (CNR-ISMed, Naples), and the Archaeological Park of the Valley of the Temples, directed by Roberto Sciarratta.

The Roman villa, located a few kilometres from Agrigento, represents an extraordinary archaeological context bordered to the south by the sea coast and to the east by what remains of the Cottone river. It was discovered in 1907, during work on the construction of railway tracks, and partially explored by Antonino Salinas.

Six rooms with mosaic floors were then brought to light. Investigations in the villa were only resumed in 1979 with a team from the University of Tsukuba (Japan) under the direction of Masanori Aoyagi who, in several campaigns between 1979 and 1983, succeeded in bringing to light the peristyle surrounded by a covered ambulatory, some rooms in the southern sector, two thermal sectors and a long wall parallel to the coastline, already partially investigated by Salinas and interpreted as a retaining wall for the entire area with a steep north/south slope.

The objective of the current investigation campaign is to clarify the nature, structure and functions of the villa. The stratigraphic investigations being carried out in some sectors of the residential complex will serve to define hitherto unclear aspects of the structure built just a few steps from the sea and the marvellous Scala dei Turchi.

The multi-disciplinary team currently at work, led by Daniele Malfitana, professor of archaeological research methodology and director of the School of Specialisation in Archaeological Heritage at the University of Catania, and Maria Serena Rizzo, archaeology officer of the Agrigento Park, together with Antonino Mazzaglia (CNR-ISPC, Catania) and Stefania Pafumi (CNR-ISMed, Naples), will involve young researchers from the Pnrr – Changes project, more than twenty students from the School of Specialisation in Archaeology and students from the Master’s degree course in Archaeology, who will be housed in a number of public facilities, thanks to the availability and logistical support of the municipality of Realmonte led by the mayor Santina Lattuca.

The excavation campaign will therefore be an extraordinary training opportunity for the many students and pupils taking part, but it will also be a moment for the communities gravitating around it to get to know the residential complex. The involvement of the town of Realmonte and the same community of tourists who flock to the area during the summer months will in fact allow the public to visit the excavation site. In this way, the resumption of archaeological investigations will be able to form the premise of a programme for the valorisation of the area that combines natural beauty with the knowledge of extraordinary cultural contexts, the enjoyment of which has always remained until now on the margins with respect to the ‘great attractions’.


The campaign is part of the CNR-ISMed project on the Multidisciplinary study of the historical-archaeological evidence of the Roman Villa of Durrueli, Realmonte (Agrigento), in which CNR-ISMed is a partner.

CNR-ISMed Scientific Responsible: Stefania Pafumi

Last update

12 June 2024, 15:06