Another gorgeous sunny day, despite rain being forecast by the locals.

We joined a half day tour group to Tivoli to see Villa Adriana, and Villa D’Este, a drive of 30 minutes.  Tivoli is a beautiful hilltop town and was a place for the very wealthy to escape the heat of Rome summers.

Our first stop was Villa Adriana, Emperor Hadrian’s summer residence in the foothills of Tivoli.  The villa dates back to Roman times and vividly displays the excesses of the living in the Roman times.  At the entrance to the grounds there is a model of the entire complex which shows just how enormous the villa was, it was actually more of a town than a villa!

The Emperor was a great traveler and designed the villa himself, taking inspiration from buildings he’d seen during his travels around the world.  The ruins are still being excavated by teams of archeologists, and are very interesting to walk around.

Remnants of Hadrians villa

The Pecile, a large porticoed pool area was copied from a building he saw while in Athens.

The Pecile

A detail of the statues around
the Pecile

Then, a drive to the top of the hill into Tivoli and the Villa D’Este, deservedly nominated one of the most beautiful residences of the Renaissance.  Again, the villa is absolutely enormous ( but not in ruins as is the Villa Adriana).  There are some interesting frescoes and archeological relics on display inside, but the reason everyone goes to there is to see the wonderful gardens.  The villa had also at one time been a Benedictine convent, and much later home to the composer Franz Liszt.

The villa’s countless fountains, set in the heart of magnificent high Renaissance gardens, create the most delightfully graceful and restful symphony of carved stone, shade, sunlight and water.

Terrace upon terrace of gardens with water spouting gargoyles and fountains, the gorgeous fountains being “powered” by gravitational water pressure alone – no machinery or pumps whatsoever!

Terraced fountain.

We were advised that there was at one time also a fountain which used the water pressure to play an organ concealed in the top part of the structure, and another which imitated the call of birds!!  Regrettably these two structures do not exist anymore.

More fountains.
Its E1.50 for the WC

All too soon it was time to rejoin our bus for the trip back to Rome.  We would have been happy to roam around this magnificent garden all day.

These two places and particularly the Villa D’Este just have to be seen to be believed.  No trip to Italy is complete without doing so.

Enjoy the photos.

Love to Marissa, Ella and Luca from Nanna and Poppy xx

Ilze

A careful examination of the details
of statues in the Pecile.