Tivoli and its villas

Tivoli stands on a summit of the Monti Tiburtini, where the Aniene river bends and creates a waterfall. In 1550 Ippolito II d'Este, son of Lucrezia Borgia and cardinal of Ferrara, was elected governor of the town and immediately went about making his new residence more beautiful and prestigious. He decided to build a magnificent villa around an ancient Benedictine monastery. It is famous above all for its gardens, with their many fountains, big and small, fed by the nearby waterfall. The Organ Fountain, one of the marvels of the villa, was equipped with an automatic device which worked a hydraulic organ by water power alone: modulated sounds issued from a cylinder, a kind of music.

Villa Gregoriana, also at Tivoli, has its marvels: a waterfall over 100 meters high, which charmed famous visitors such as Madame de Stael, George Sand and Piranesi. In the plain below there is another gem, the monumental Villa Adriana, built by the Emperor Hadrian between about 118 and 138 AD. It is the largest villa of the Roman era. The sumptuous oriental palaces admired by the emperor during his numerous travels were reproduced here. Hadrian made the villa his place for rest and meditation. In spite of pillage and spoliation, it is still awe-inspiring today.