Sala delle Dieci Ragazze

Central Sicily


Just off the southern end of the Ambulacro della Grande Caccia, in the Sala delle Dieci Ragazze, is the villa's most famous mosaic. It depicts nine (originally there were 10) bikini-clad girls working out with weights and dinky dumbbells, in preparation for the Olympic games.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Central Sicily attractions

1. Triclinium

0.01 MILES

One of a series of apartments on one side of the Ambulacro, the triclinium boasts a splendid floor illustration of the labours of Hercules, where the…

2. Ambulacro della Grande Caccia

0.01 MILES

This 64m-long corridor is emblazoned with dramatic hunting scenes of tigers, leopards, elephants, antelopes, ostriches and a rhino – animals that the…

3. Peristyle

0.02 MILES

The main part of the villa is centred on the peristyle, a vast covered courtyard lined with amusing animal heads. This is where guests would have been…

4. Villa Romana del Casale

0.02 MILES

Villa Romana del Casale is sumptuous, even by decadent Roman standards, and is thought to have been the country retreat of Marcus Aurelius Maximianus,…

6. Basilica

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After they had been received in the peristyle, guests were led through to the basilica, a building used for public assembly.

7. Little Hunt

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Of the rooms on the northern side of the peristyle, the most interesting is a dining room featuring a hunting mosaic called the Little Hunt – 'little'…

8. Palaestra

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The palaestra wows with a splendid, sweeping mosaic depicting a chariot race at the Circus Maximus in Rome (the room is also known as the Salone del Circo…