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With the term "Grotte di Catullo" is identified as a Roman villa erected between the end of the 1st century BC. and the 1st century AD in Sirmione, in the province of Brescia, on the southern shore of Lake Garda. The archaeological complex, part of which, especially in the northern sector, has always been in sight and has been the subject of visits and speculations learned from the 15th century, is today the most important testimony of the Roman period in the territory of Sirmione and is the example more imposing than Roman villa in northern Italy. The great villa, under which structures of the 1st century BC were found, was built at the beginning of the 1st century AD. The villa had to be abandoned already in the 3rd century AD. when part of its architectural decoration was re-employed in the other Roman villa of Sirmione, that of Via Antiche Mura. Between the 4th and 5th centuries, the impressive surviving structures of the villa were included in the fortifications that reclaimed the peninsula of Sirmione and within the ruins of the Roman building burials were built. Over the centuries, as has been said, several chroniclers and travelers visited the ruins, but the first concrete studies on them were carried out only in 1801 by General La Combe St. Michel, Napoleon Bonaparte army artillery commander. Subsequently, the Veronese Count Giovanni Girolamo Orti Manara carried out excavations, still fundamental today, which he published in 1856. In 1939 the Archaeological Heritage Department launched a large program of excavations and restorations, finally acquiring the whole area in 1948 to allow adequate protection of the complex, immersed in its natural environment. During the nineties of the twentieth century further studies confirmed that the construction was realized through a unitary project, which defined the orientation and distribution of the interior spaces according to a precise criterion of axiality and symmetry. The archaeological complex, still partially exposed today, covers an area of about two hectares. The villa has a rectangular plan, 167 x 105 meters, with two fronts on the north and south short sides. To overcome the inclination of the rocky bench on which the building was set up, large support works were erected in the northern part and massive cuts were made to shape the rocky bench. The latter are particularly well visible on the west side (Grande Criptoportico) and on the eastern side of the northern avant-garde. The noble floor, corresponding to the owner's home environment, is the most damaged, both because it was the most exposed and because the villa, after its abandonment, has for centuries been a hollow of materials. Better preserved are the middle and lower planes. The main entrance of the building was in the southern avant-garde. The villa was characterized by long porches and terraces open to the lake along the east and west sides, communicating north with a large belvedere terrace, equipped with velarium. Along the western side, today is the cryptoportic, a long walk that is covered. The residential parts of the building were located in the north and south, while the central part of the Great Olive Grove was occupied by an extensive garden. On the south side, under a floor in opus spicatum, there is a large tank, nearly 43 meters long, that collects the water needed for daily use. The large spa area of the villa, consisting of several rooms located in the southwestern area, including the so-called swimming pool, was probably obtained at the beginning of the 2nd century. The villa's various environments have evocative conventional names, derived from a consolidated local tradition or interpretations and denominations given during the first excavations. Among the ruins, for example, you can find the Three Pillars Hall, the Long Hall, the Trifora del Paradiso, the Great Pylon, the Horse Cave, the Great Olive Tree mentioned above, and the Giants' Hall. |