Have a look at the cathedral (17 thC) and its precious relic, a Byzantine painting called the Madonna of the Victories in a silver casket. Typical medieval architecture in orchards and woodlands give the town an air of quiet prosperity. The luxurious villa of Casale, a Roman survival with a magnificent spread of multi-coloured mosaics of perhaps AD 350, stands 4 km south of town. The themes are lively – bathing scenes, hunting scenes – and suggest a naive African influence. There are traces of wall paintings too. Debate continues about Casale’s origins and the identity of its owner. It may have been the retreat of an Emperor who exchanged power politics for a meditative retirement. Six km south of this secluded site are the remains of a village significantly called Philosophiana.