Archaeological area of Sophiana
“Remains of the archaic Greek age (XNUMXth century BC) and Romans from the Augustan age (XNUMXst century BC); Roman villa with thermal plant
and two small basilicas (one with a double apse) from the XNUMXth century. d. C. (Statio di Philosophiana). "
Located south of the provincial road to Mazarin, the Roman settlement of Sophiana, excavated between 1986 and 1990, shows a continuity of life from the proto - imperial age to the third century AD, at the end of which it suffered violent destruction.
In this phase the inhabited area, defended by a wall, had a regular urban structure with modular blocks, divided by paved streets along which stood, in addition to various residential and commercial buildings, a spa complex and a noble domus of the "peristyle" type.
During the 1500th century AD, in the age of Constantine, the site was included within a huge latifundium, extended for over XNUMX hectares to the east of the mouth of the Gela river, and identifiable, based on the discovery of numerous brick stamps with inscriptions PHIL SOPH, precisely with the praedia Philosophiana mentioned by ancient sources.
The owner of the immense extension must certainly have been an illustrious exponent of the Roman senatorial aristocracy who, precisely for political and land reasons, had moved to Sicily, probably placing his residence in the sumptuous and well-known Villa del Casale located about ten kilometers away. away, at today's Piazza Armerina.
Therefore, while the Villa del Casale plays, within the same large estate, the function of pars dominica (that is, the official residence of the owner), the settlement of Sophiana has the role of probable center of production and commercial activities, as well as the function as a rest stop along the Catania-Agrigento road for travelers looking for a shelter for the night and a change for horses.
A significant confirmation in this sense is offered by the mention of a statio Philosophiana, in the Constantinian editorial board of the Itinerarium Antonini.
The numerous inscriptions found between the necropolis and the inhabited area show that in the late ancient age the inhabitants of the complex still used the Greek language and professed Christianity even though a small Jewish community was present on the site.
Starting from the end of the XNUMXth century, the addition of new structures of various uses, especially above and close to the baths, denotes a revival of the settlement which remained vital until about the middle of the XNUMXth century AD.
The decline came with the Muslim conquest, even if residual wall structures combined with a few movable finds attest to a modest survival in the Frederick era.
The Thermal Complex
To the north-east of the inhabited area, a large thermal plant consisting of about twenty rooms, some of which paved with mosaics, overlapped, in the fourth century AD, with a more modest complex of similar use built in the proto-imperial age (I -II century. A.D).
There were numerous additions and transformations that the complex underwent over time, coming to host a small building of Christian worship in the calidarium at the end of the XNUMXth century, and three small Byzantine kilns for the production of tiles and ceramics in the XNUMXth.
The North necropolis
It is located north of the town and represents the oldest cemetery area of Sophiana, datable between the XNUMXnd and XNUMXrd centuries. AD and therefore can be linked to the mid-imperial phase of the settlement, prior to the destruction at the end of the century. The prevailing ritual involved single depositions in pits with accompanying drinking vessels, plates, coins, sealed ceramic oil lamps, many of which with inscriptions relating to the respective production workshops located in Sicily, Africa and Campania.
The Basilica with the adjoining Necropolis
The current appearance of the basilica is that of a Christian church with three naves, preceded by a narthex (or vestibule) and ended by a semicircular apse. Located on a hill SW of the town, it is the product of four different construction phases, well marked by the different masonry techniques used for their construction.
The most ancient nucleus was a rectangular sepulchral cell with an apse, datable to the XNUMXth century and probably inspired by the architectural type of memoriae marthyrum, certainly the burial of a notable personage for religious merits. Precisely the sanctity of the deceased must have represented the incentive for the subsequent monumentalization of the tomb and for the consequent aggregation of the strip of necropolis with trapezoidal pit tombs which subsequently extended behind and behind the original cell.
In the sixth century, in fact, the cell was enlarged with the addition of a rectangular hall (corresponding to the current central nave) below whose SW corner a crypt divided into two rooms was created.
The addition of the two lateral naves which incorporated both the crypt and two pre-existing tombs dates back to the XNUMXth century, while the construction of the narthex dates back to the Middle Ages.
The West and East Necropolises
Two other funerary areas were explored respectively to the west and east of Sophiana in the years between 1954 and 1961. A resumption of investigations recently involved the eastern necropolis in the years 1993-1995. various coverings of stone slabs or with masonry walls sometimes plastered.
There are many burials of children and babies for which burial in amphorae or small vessels already known from the archaic age was still used.
The Christian tombs were clearly identifiable by the recurrent orientation of the skulls to the West and by the position of the crossed arms on the chest of the dead. Remarkable for the architectural typology is a masonry tomb with double rectangular pit, with multiple depositions, found in the East necropolis and containing inside very rich kits with precious ceramics and with a pair of gold earrings with semilunate pendant decorated with fretwork and punch. For the excellence of the technique and the decorative motifs (pairs of opposing peacocks), the earrings were considered the product of Constantinopolitan workshops active between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries AD, imported to Sicily by members of the Byzantine court.
Source of the file: Sicily Region - Department of Cultural Heritage and Sicilian Identity
Site subject to archaeological restrictions
