The main aim of the 2019 excavations was to check the stratigraphy and state of preservation of any mosaic floors present in the area immediately south of trench 54, opened in 2018, which allowed the large octagonal hall with its fine geometric mosaic to be completely excavated. The hall functioned as the reception room of the Gothic king’s palace.

In 2019, trench 55 was opened at c. two metres south of the previous one. Part of the trench, like that of last year, corresponded with the road that was moved in 2018 to facilitate the archaeological research. Among the most interesting data was produced by the complete excavation of the vestibule leading into the octagonal hall. An abandonment layer was identified above the floor of the vestibule, containing charcoal fragments and animal bones. This layer relates to the abandonment phases of the residential sector of the villa. Presumably, in about the 7th century, once the villa was abandoned, the complex must have been used as a temporary shelter, as also seen in the bath quarter, inside the pools. This layer covered the mosaic floor to a variable depth. The floor itself was not intact and continued on from a patch uncovered last year at its north eastern edge. The geometric motif comprised an external band decorated with polychrome lozenges.

The external border was black with a white fill. The interior nucleus was made up of grey sandstone and pink limestone tesserae. The Solomon’s Knot motif inside clipei was repeated in the inner geometric field of the mosaic. The floor was in a very good state of preservation with the exception of the south-western part of the room. Here, the mosaic had been very badly damaged by a long, deep pit.