The place
The room displays evidence of the ancient residential district of Contrada San Nicola, known as “Hellenistic-Roman,” with a regular urban layout, called an “orthogonal plan,” extending in the valley between the two northern hills and the temples to the south. Archaeological research confirms that it was established in the early decades of the new polis, during the 6th century BC, remaining unchanged until the Roman Imperial age, when the wealth of the inhabitants became apparent from the painted wall plaster of the houses, which imitated the colors and veins of marble, and floor mosaics in various techniques (at the back of the room, three emblemata in opus vermiculatum from the so-called “house of the gazelle”).
