Grotte di Catullo, Sirmione
About
Built at the northern tip of the Sirmione peninsula on Lake Garda around the turn of the millennium, this multi-story villa ranks as the most important Roman residence of its kind in northern Italy, with porticoes and terraces facing the water on every side. Its popular name, Grotte di Catullo, dates only to the 15th century, when locals linked the ruins to the poet Catullus, who died decades before the villa was actually built. The complex included its own lake-fed spa facility and remained in use until abandoned in the 3rd century CE.
What happened here
A working estate with a comfortable house attached, and the proportions vary with how rich the owner is and how often he visits. The farm side has presses for oil and wine, threshing floors, storage sunk into the ground, stables and quarters for the workforce. The residential side has baths, dining rooms sited for the view, mosaics, and a garden with water in it. A manager runs the place year-round and reports; the owner arrives for the vintage and for the summer. Produce goes to market or to the owner's town house, and the accounts are kept in detail. Some villas are pure retreat with no farm at all, built on a cliff or a lake specifically to be looked at from a boat.
Sources
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →