The Villa Imperiale del Casale is an isolated Roman villa in lovely countryside a few miles from the sleepy village of Piazza Armerina. Here are preserved the world’s finest Roman mosaics, a vast and almost pristine array of colour and narrative drama spread over 50 rooms – an artistic wonder that was declared one of Sicily’s five UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1997.

Mosaics are not to all tastes, but even the most sceptical viewer cannot help but be impressed by the must-see Villa Imperiale. Be advised, though, that the site is extremely poplar, especially in spring and summer. Note that the plastic coverings raised to protect the mosaics and suggest the villa’s original outlines create a sometimes stifling greenhouse effect in warm weather.

Most scholars believe the villa was a hunting lodge because of the mosaic’s many hunting-related scenes, and also the building’s position, which even today is in lovely, wooded country that once would have been rich in game.