Situated deep in the Sicilian hinterland, at 721 metres above sea level, stands Piazza Armerina, one of Sicily’s most frequented sites thanks to the famous Villa Romana del Casale. Built in the middle of the 4th Century AD as a hunting lodge by a Roman patrician the Villa is home to some of the best preserved and extensive examples of Roman mosaics spread over around 3500m2. The town of Piazza Armerina is also worth a visit if you are in the area. Its main sights include an Aragonese Castle built at the end of the 14th Century and an imposing 18th Century Duomo. If you’re there in mid August (12th, 13th and 14th), go to the “Palio dei Normanni”, a competition of knightly combat and horsemanship that records the heroics of the Norman invaders who ousted the Arabs from Sicily in 1060.