Villa romana di Cottanello, Roman archaeological site in Cottanello, Italy.
Villa romana di Cottanello is a Roman villa rustica in the Collesecco area, about a kilometre from Cottanello. Excavations have revealed a rectangular complex of roughly 37 by 45 metres with around thirty rooms, including an atrium and a peristyle, and mosaic floors with very small tesserae. The site is protected by metal canopies.
In June 1944, retreating German troops blew up an ammunition depot, exposing archaeological fragments. Local volunteers, guided by elders' memories, began unofficial digs in September 1968; official excavations ran from 1969 to 1973. The villa itself was built in the last decades of the 1st century AD over a Republican-era structure and belonged to the Aurelii Cottae family.
The villa displays architectural elements of both agricultural production spaces and residential areas, reflecting Roman social organization of the first century AD.
The site sits on a hillside about one kilometer from the village center and is sheltered by a protective structure overhead. The walking path to reach it is clearly marked and straightforward to navigate.
The villa belonged to the Roman family of the Aurelii Cottae: a fragment of a dolium found in the 1972 excavations bears the stamped mark "M. Cottae". It may have been the first settlement nucleus from which the village of Cottanello grew, keeping the family name in its toponym.
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