## 3 The Virtual Reconstructions of the Villas  
### Sirmione: \"Grotte di Catullo\"  
#### 3.1.1 Presentation of the Site  
The villa known as the \"Grotte di Catullo\" (Figure 7), located on the tip of the Sirmione peninsula, is unique among the Roman villas of northern Italy, particularly for its monumentality and architectural design features [14]. The site underwent various phases of use, which are briefly summarised below. The walls found underneath the southern residential sector of the complex have been attributed to an initial construction phase that predates the 1 st century BC. It is not possible to reconstruct the plan of this building. The currently visible complex is dated to the Augustan age, both on the basis of archaeological elements found during recent excavations and for typological and decorative considerations [15].  
In the 2 nd century AD, renovation works, perhaps linked to a change of ownership, led to the construction of the bath complex in the western part of the southern residential sector [16]. The villa was destroyed and abandoned in the 3 rd century AD, possibly due to an earthquake or a raid. This caused a fire, traces of which are visible on the plaster, and the collapse of the structures [17]. From the middle of the 4 th century AD, a necroolis was established in the villa area, probably connected to a military camp of considerable importance, as demonstrated by the finding of a _Keller 6_ fibula [18]. In the 4 th-5 th centuries, the structure was incorporated into a fortification wall, of which long stretches are still preserved [12]. With the arrival of the Lombard people, the villa continued to be used as a necroolis, but with increasingly sporadic evidence of use until the 7 th century, in conjunction with the development of the current historic centre of Sirmione [16]. Most of the remains of the villa, especially in the northern sector, always remained visible in later periods.  
This study aimed at the virtual reconstruction of the complex focused on the Augustan age, i.e., on the monumental _dium villa_. It is a rectangular complex (167.5 m \(\times\) 105 m) with projections on the north and south short sides. The rocky slope on which the villa is built  
Figure 7: “Grotte di Catullo”, Sirmione (e-Archeo).  
made it necessary to build substructures on the northern, western, and (partially) eastern sides to create a uniform base. What is best preserved of the building are the substructures of the _basis village_ characterised by barrel-vaulted arches, especially in the northern sector where they exceed 15 m in height [3].  
The building is arranged on three levels (Figure 8), not uniformly present across the area but following the needs dictated by the different levels of the rock. On the upper level, which must have housed the reception rooms, only some rooms in the southern sector are preserved, including several rooms of a baths complex (from the 2 nd century AD) in the western part. The existing walls reach a height of only a few tens of centimetres, and in rare cases, fragments of wall decoration are preserved [3]. There was a large garden in the centre of the upper level. The intermediate level is characterised on the western side by the presence of a cryptoporticus (104a, Figure 8), the best-preserved room of the villa and one of its most imposing structures, with a length of 158.8 m [14]. The southernmost part of the corridor was obtained by excavating into the rock layer, and the central part is on ground level, while the northern part rests on substructural rooms. It served both as a substructure for the erection of the upper loggia and as a closed and covered space for walks and meetings of the _dominus_ and his guests.