Remains of a maritime Roman villa located within the Valgrande nature area. The existence of the villa has been known since around 1760, following the accidental discovery of mosaic remains. The first excavation campaigns took place during the reclamation of the 1930s, followed by further excavations in the 1990s and then again in 2023, the latter time with the collaboration of the Department of Cultural Heritage of the University of Padua and the Institut fuer Klassische Archaeologie of the University of Regensburg (Germany). The excavations unearthed mosaics, painted plaster fragments, amphorae and other remains. In the area, which is currently covered by forest, there are some fossilized coastal dunes, as in Roman times it was located on the coastline, while currently it is 1.5 km away from it, due to the gradual accumulation of sediment carried by rivers.
The name “Mutteron dei Frati” derives from the fact that in the past the locals thought the site had housed an ancient convent of monks, due to the findings of perforated terracotta spheres, mistaken for “rosary beads,” but which were actually net weights, used in Roman times for fishing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gMv2NxDPKw